


Wild Child

by LegendCow



Category: One Piece
Genre: Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Amnesia, Gen, Probably Luffy, What idiot let a child become a pirate?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-06-07
Packaged: 2019-10-27 13:19:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17767520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LegendCow/pseuds/LegendCow
Summary: Is there a legal age for becoming a pirate? Considering they're criminals, would they even care? Is it really a smart idea to live on the sea if you can't swim? Is it bad to be a pirate if your best friend is a marine? Are the questions getting tedious? Eh, probably.Besides, who needs to ask questions when there's a whole world to see? Monsters, danger, flying islands, people who can turn the world upside down, and Pirates! Loads of pirates. So grab your weapon, get off your ass and lose yourself in that endless sea. Just don't fall in, you really can't swim, remember?





	1. Just a really bad day

Storm clouds. Lightning. That was all she remembered when she woke up on a beach. She remembered nothing else, not even a name. She got up, brushing sand off of her face and looked around. Jungle in one direction, ocean in the other, and nothing but sand and rocks in between them. No other people, not even a wrecked ship. Was that what had happened, a ship wreck? She thought that’s what it was called. Wow, she really couldn’t remember anything. Not her age, not her name, not even what she looked like. She looked around and saw tide pools nearby. Carefully picking her way across the rocks, as she was barefoot, she looked down into the small pool of water.  
And a brown-haired little girl looked back. Her hair only went a little past her shoulders and was caked with sand on one side. Her eyes were green and confused. She had on what could have once been referred to as a dress but looked more like a long shirt that had been torn at the bottom. But at least she had clothes, so that was a plus, right?  
A sudden growl snapped her out of her thoughts and she whipped her head around, terrified at what could have made that noise. It wasn’t until she heard it again that she realized that the noise was coming from her.  
“Hungry,” she muttered to herself. Turning to look at the jungle that dominated the shoreline she thought about her options. She would probably find something to eat in the jungle, some fruit at least. She didn’t know how to fish, so the ocean was out, and she was pretty sure she couldn’t eat sand. So that meant she would have to go into the jungle. The dark, foreboding, probably deadly jungle.  
She gulped as she stared into the trees before her stomach growled again. Taking a deep breath, she began to make her way into the brush. She heard more noises as she wandered deeper in: birds, trees and bushes rustling, animals she couldn’t identify. All the while keeping her eyes on the tree tops to try and spot some fruit. The trees just kept getting taller as she moved deeper in, so much so that she didn’t think she could climb up to get any fruit even if she _did_ see some.

Plus, the canopy was making it hard to see, like the sun was setting.

  _Wait, is it setting? How long have I been out here? When did I wake up, morning or afternoon? Crud, I’m going to be stuck in the middle of a creepy jungle at night, aren’t I?_ Distracted as she was with her panicked thoughts, she didn’t notice something sticking out of the path in front of her. So, when her foot struck into it, she was understandably surprised, and fell flat on her face.  
“Owwww,” she groaned, wincing, frustrated tears forming in her eyes. She turned towards whatever had tripped her. It looked like a dark green tree root, her eyes following to the side to see which tree it came from.  
What she found was not a tree but the biggest lizard she had ever seen, which isn’t saying much considering she couldn’t remember past when she woke up but still, it looked like its head was bigger than her whole body. And it was looking directly at her, its tongue darting out like it was licking its lips.  
“Uh oh,” she said out loud as all of her frustration and confusion was overwhelmed by shear terror. She turned and sprinted away from it has fast as she could, the reptile giving chase. Its thunderous running drowned out the wind in her ears and the sound of her heart beating out of her chest. She couldn’t even see where she was going, all she knew was she had to get away. She ducked and weaved through branches and bushes to try and lose her pursuer, but he simply plowed straight through. The ground suddenly sloped downwards, and she screamed as she tripped once again, this time tumbling down a hill, hitting bushes and rocks as she fell. Finally rolling to a stop in a clearing she groaned in pain before stopping and listening while still on the ground. She strained her ears trying to hear the lizard’s movement, but she only heard it getting further away. Apparently, it had given up on her.

All at once everything that had happened to her in the last few hours came crashing down on her. Sobs began to pour out of her as she curled in on herself. She couldn’t remember who she was, where she came from, how she ended up on this stupid island, or why any of this had happened. She was tired, hungry, bruised and battered, and had nearly been eaten by a lizard as big as a ship. She lay there for a good few minutes, quietly crying. When she had finally cried herself out shifted so she was sitting up. Her stomach rumbled again as she cast her eyes around the clearing, before something oddly colorful in the fading daylight caught her attention. Just across from her, sitting at the base of a fallen tree was an enormous fruit.  
Climbing to her feet, she moved as fast as her tired injured body would allow her and sat on her knees before the fruit. It looked like a big red peach with swirly designs all over it, and two little horn shaped growths on either side of it. She picked it up gingerly, looking around to make sure no more giant or dangerous animals were sneaking up on her. Looking back at the fruit in her hands she took as big a bite as her small jaw would allow.  
And it tasted _awful_.

It honestly tasted like the vilest thing imaginable plus moldy socks. She wanted to spit it out but somehow forced herself to swallow the chunk she had bitten off. She stared at the fruit, trying to figure out how something that looked so appealing could be so disgusting. Throwing the rest of the fruit into the jungle, she nestled in as best she could next to the fallen log as the stars started to appear in the sky, thinking she’d try and get more food in the morning. She tried to fall asleep, to forget the terrible ending to her terrible day.

 

She woke up the next day sore, hungry and thirsty. Getting up and looking around the, significantly brighter and less frightening, clearing, she tried to remember what it looked like so she could get back. She could hear running water somewhere nearby, so she decided to deal with her thirst before hunger. Moving through the brush a little way from the clearing she found a stream. She made to dip her hands in to drink when she noticed something. The skin on her arms was red.

“What?!” she exclaimed before looking down at her reflection. Sure enough, her pale skin had turned a bright cherry red. Her hair had turned jet black as it hung slightly in her face, a pair of small horns pushing through the strands, her teeth had gotten longer and sharper with fangs poking out of her lips from both her upper and lower jaw. She scrambled away from the water, her breathing getting faster as she stared at her hands. As her panic began to increase, she could only look on in shock as her nails, now black, began to grow, along with the rest of her hand. In fact, her whole body was growing!  
“ **What**?!” she screamed again, not really able to think of anything else. Her body didn’t stop growing until she was almost double her original size, which meant she was only a little more than 6 feet tall. She looked back towards the water, seeing that she wasn’t just bigger, but she looked stronger, with bulging muscles and taut skin. Her dress looked more like a shirt on her much larger frame, part of her that wasn’t freaking out was thankful that her underwear hadn’t ripped. Finally, the horns that had previously been peeking out of her hair were now jutting skyward from her forehead.  
While she was simultaneously frightened and fascinated by her new appearance, she heard a rumble to her right. A very _familiar_ rumble.

“Please no,” she whimpered, if she could whimper with such a deep voice, as the same lizard from the day before charged through the brush and stared at the newly grown girl. “No no no no no!” she said as she scrambled backwards and the giant lizard advanced. Desperately, she kicked her leg out in an attempt to scare him off. The kick caught the lizard in the chin… and sent him flying backwards. He crashed through several trees before getting back on his feet and skittering off into the jungle.  
She stared at the destruction she had caused and then looked back at her foot, barely registering the also clawed nails.  
“What happened to me?” she asked quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the first chapter of my first fic on this site. I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Devil Powers and a New Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When you've got all the time in the world and no one to talk to, figuring out super powers tends to be a priority.

She sat in the clearing, legs crossed and looking down at her hands. She was still huge, her skin was still bright red, and her hair still kept hanging in her eyes, but she could fix that by tucking it behind her horns. Oh yeah, that was another thing, she still had the horns and fangs. She didn’t even look older, she just looked like a big red version of herself. Granted it was only a few minutes after she had transformed into a monster and sent the lizard that had chased her down yesterday through a few trees. She still wasn’t totally sure how she had done that, but it felt kind of awesome. When the panic and fear had settled a little, she had gotten some water from the stream, and eaten some bananas as the big lizard had crashed through a fruit tree when she sent it flying.

She giggled to herself as she thought about that. The island immediately seemed less scary now that she had sent the biggest thing she had seen on it running with its tail between its legs. The only question now was how she turned back. If she _could_ turn back. She closed her eyes tight and tried to picture herself as she had seen in the tide pool. Small, brunette, pale, not monstrous. She felt a strange rush, like she had just let out a really big breath, and her dress felt like it fit better suddenly. Opening her eyes and looking down and saw pale skin once more.

“Yes!” she exclaimed, happy with her small victory. She poked at her skin, feeling the distinct lack of muscle as opposed to the stone hard biceps she’d had in monster form. _How strong_ am _I though?_ she thought to herself. Squeezing her eyes shut again she pictured how she looked as a monster. She felt the same rush as before, but in reverse this time. She felt her hair fall against her face, which she immediately tucked behind her horns. Now big and red again, she stood back up and stretched. Looking around the clearing she spotted a sturdy looking tree and moved towards it. Her footsteps rumbled as much as the lizard’s had, which was… _Kind of cool actually._ Stopping front of the tree she clenched her fist, swung her arm back, and threw the hardest punch she could.  
**CRASH.  
**The punch made a sizable hole in the trunk of the tree. In fact, it looked like she had blown out a good chunk of the wood. Marveling at the hole she had made she almost didn’t hear the snapping of wood coming from the tree as it began to buckle under its own weight. She stared up as the tree began to fall. Towards her. As her mind finally caught up with what was happening, she dove to the side with a shriek, just barely dodging the tree as it crashed to the ground with a resounding **BOOM**.

Getting to her feet she gaped at the damage, the torn stump of the tree right where it was, the tree having broken at the point of impact. She looked at her fist, there were no splinters or bruises, not even a scratch. She looked back and forth between the tree and her hand and slowly started laughing.  
“Awesome!” she boomed, startling herself with how deep her voice suddenly was. Chuckling to herself, she looked off into the jungle and grinned viciously. She got back to her feet and started stomping into the trees, off in search of a lizard to punch. After all she was the biggest, baddest thing in this forest.

What did she have to be afraid of?

 

As it turned out she was _not_ the biggest baddest thing in this forest. A fact she learned when she encountered the lizard who had been harassing her. And its mom. Or its dad? Point was the parent was at least five times bigger than the child. She had spent the last few days exploring the island and searching for the lizard that had chased her on the first day, eating fruit she could now climb to and drinking from rivers that seemed to be all over the island. She had found her way to the beach a couple of times, and in all that time there was no sign of any people on the island. It was around the time she made this discovery that she found her target. And also the bigger lizard.

So, good news! It turns out that her monster form can take some serious hits. Bad news, she only found this out because the bigger lizard tail whipped her into an even bigger tree than the one she brought down in the clearing which then came down on top of her, so the bigger lizard was way stronger than her. Other good news, she had a form between normal and monster, which she dubbed mini-monster after the fact, that was _much_ faster than either of her other forms. It was the form she had woken up in after discovering her powers. Of course, other bad news, she only learned _that_ because the bigger lizard was also faster than its offspring, so she panicked and shifted between forms until she landed on her newly discovered one.

But the best news was that mini-monster form was easily fast enough to out pace both the big lizard _and_ the bigger lizard. After sprinting her way back to the clearing, she leaned against the tree she had felled trying to catch her breath.

“Haw haw,” she heard from above her. Looking up, she saw a large bird, its feathers varying shades of blue.  
“Did you just laugh at me?” she panted, staring at the bird incredulously.

“Haw haw,” it called again, looking directly at her. Grinding her teeth, she reached down and grabbed a rock and chucked it as hard as she could but given that she was in normal mode that wasn’t very hard. The rock sailed under the branch the bird was sitting on, said bird looking distinctly smug as it looked down its beak at her. Her eyebrow twitched, _If he laughs at me one more time-_ “Haw haw.”

Giving a wordless scream, she suddenly shifted to mini-monster and leapt at the offending bird, sailing towards it much faster than either of them expected. The bird immediately flew away with a surprised squawk as she landed on the branch it had previously perched on. Looking down at the jump she had just made she breathed out a disbelieving laugh before looking back at the bird, now hovering in the air looking at her. Seeing her look at him he seemed to stiffen as a wolfish grin stretched across her face. Realizing what was about to happen, he turned to fly away.

“Come here!” she shouted, taking off after the fleeing fowl. She jumped from branch to branch, somehow keeping her feet as she gained on the bird. She let out a whoop as she sprang from another tree towards the upper canopy. Taking a final leap from a high branch she reached for the bird… and just barely clipped his behind with her nails, tearing off some of his tail feathers. Failing to land properly, she crashed into a bed of plants and fallen fronds, rolling so she faced up towards the treetops.

“Haw haw, haw haw, haw haw!” the bird cried as he circled high above where she fell.

“It’s not funny!” she shouted at him, even as a wide smile split her face. That little chase had been the most fun she’d had the entire week she’d been on the island. “You’re a jerk, Chuckles!”

“Haw haw!” the newly dubbed ‘Chuckles’ called one last time before finally flying off. She lay in the fronds for a little while, still smiling to herself and blowing a strand of hair out of her face. _Mental note, Monster form tough, strong, and slow, Mini-monster fast and jumps good, normal form small and… wimpy_. Heaving into a sitting position, she looked around at the fallen plant matter. _These are super comfy, I bet I could use them as a bed_. She felt a drop of rain hit her head. She looked up to see gathering storm clouds through the leaves. _Maybe I should make a house too._

And so, she did. Using her Monster form’s claws, she carved out a livable hovel in the side of the fallen tree. She gathered the palm fronds to sleep on, covered the entrance to her new ‘house’ with vines and branches, and just sort of… lived that way for a while. She explored the island, ate what she could find, chased Chuckles when she saw him, and slowly got used to life on the island, marking each day as a scratch inside her hovel.

Oh, also, she learned some things about herself and her powers! For one, she couldn’t swim. She found out accidentally when she went to bathe one day. She jumped into the stream near the clearing and nearly drowned, all the energy in her body drained out at once. She was only saved by a rock that pulled just enough of her body out of the current for her to get out. She figured out that if she was any more than calf deep, she couldn’t move and would topple over. It also turned off her powers, so that was another thing to remember. Super powers came with a big handicap. She also learned she could eat fish raw and not throw up, so that expanded her diet at least. It was actually pretty good once you got used to it, provided that the fish was definitely dead and didn’t flail when you bit into it. She had nightmares for a week after that.

Another thing she learned was that practicing switching into her different forms made it easier and faster. She actually started to just stay in Mini-monster form all the time, it made it easier to move around the island and while in it she was stronger and tougher than normal, just not quite to the level of Monster form. Plus she felt… safer, obviously. Even if her hair did keep falling in her face. She wished she knew how to tie it back.

Over time she explored most of the island, walked the entire length of the beach, found a large cave that she decided not to enter when she heard a very loud and deep growl from inside it, found where the big and bigger lizard usually were, which was around the cave she had discovered (apparently she had wandered too close to it the first day she was on the island), and she found the best spots for getting fruit and fish. And so, her life just went this way for a long while, just alone on the island spending her days fighting boredom and loneliness. Until one day, and many wall scratches down the line…

 

It was the morning after a big storm, the clouds having cleared before the sun rose. She was strolling down the beach, looking for anything interesting that might have washed up. Last time she found some cool sea shells that were just sitting in her hovel, waiting for her to figure out how to make them a necklace. She didn’t find any seashells this time, but she did spot something large and white on the dark brown sand at the edge of the shore. Running up to it she discovered something both exciting and almost unbelievable.

It was a person.

He was an old looking man, with scruff on his chin and graying hair poking out of the back of a blue and white hat with something she couldn’t read written on the front. He was wearing a large white coat with something else she couldn’t read on the back. The coat covered another coat and a loose-fitting shirt with palm trees covering it, along with a pair of slacks and shoes. Also his nose was really weird, like it was long and hooked but also had a bump in the middle of it, like someone had uppercut him and his nose had never healed right.

She kneeled over him, staring at the first person she had seen since waking up on this same beach, not even a hundred feet away from the tide pools. She didn’t know if he was alive, mainly because he wasn’t moving at all. So, not really knowing another way to check, she poked him in the face.

Nothing. So she poked him again. Still nothing. Poke. Nothing. Poke. Not even a twitch. Poke.

“Uuuuugh,” he groaned. Good sign! She kept poking him until he started to stir. His eyes started to crack open as he groaned again. When his eyes opened all the way he looked straight at her and tried to scramble to his feet. He ended up tripping and falling on his rear, before whipping out a long knife and pointing it at her.

“Who are you? Where am I?!” he demanded, eyes trained on her. She hadn’t moved from her position, her legs still tucked underneath her as she kneeled in front of the man threatening her with a knife. She’d been attacked by worse before.

“I don’t know, and I don’t know,” she answered honestly, a big smile on her face. She was just happy to be having a real conversation for the first time she could remember.

“H-huh?” his expression changed from angry bewilderment to just plain confusion.

“I don’t know who I am, and I don’t know where we are,” she clarified, her smile not leaving her face. He just seemed to get even more confused.

“You don’t… what? What’s your name, kid?” he asked, lowering the knife.

“I dunno.”

“Do you just not remember anything?” he said as he finally put the knife away.

“Nope!” she exclaimed, still smiling. He made a face, one that she couldn’t identify but it looked decidedly uncomfortable.

“You seem… oddly calm about that,” he said, shifting to kneel in the sand, “How long have you been here?”

She looked down and thought hard about that question, counting on her fingers. He stared hard at her while she did, she had no idea why. Oh, it might be because she was still in Mini-monster form. Well she never went back to normal unless she was in her hovel so that would have to wait. Eventually she asked, “What’s twenty plus twenty plus twenty plus twenty plus twenty plus twenty plus twenty plus twenty plus twelve?”

He blinked and thought for a second before answering, “One hundred and seventy-two.”

“That many days,” she said, nodding to herself that she got the number of scratches right.

“What?!” he exclaimed, “You’ve been on this island for half a year?!”

“Mhmm.”

“And you… haven’t died?”

“Nah, I’m strong,” she said, grinning and lifting her sleeve, showing off what small amount of muscle had developed.

He slapped himself in the face, startling her. “No, I mean, what have you been eating?”

“Fruit mainly. And fish if I can catch them. Which is kinda hard cause I can’t swim.”

“So, you _are_ a devil fruit user,” he muttered to himself, confusing her. Devil fruit? Did he mean that really gross peach she ate on her first day? “Can you turn back to normal?”

“Oh, sure! I normal don’t until I get back home, but okay,” she said, reverting to her normal state.

“You really are just a little kid,” he said, making that same face again, “Wait, what did you mean, ‘home’?”

“I punched a tree and made a house!” she said as if that explained everything, “Wanna see it?”

“Uh… sure,” he said, standing up, “Lead the way.” And so, she did. Walking along happily, she chattered endlessly about what she had been doing on the island, about Chuckles and the big and bigger lizards. Meanwhile he looked around the forest warily, like something was going to jump out and attack them at any time. Which wasn’t a bad assumption, considering they were skirting the edge of lizard territory. They were nearly to the clearing when she realized something.

“Hey, do you remember your name, Mister?” The question startled him, like he hadn’t been paying attention to a word she had said. Rude.

“Oh, uh, it’s Rino, like the animal but without an ‘H’.” She wondered if it was because of his nose. It would probably be rude to ask. Anyway, Rino! Her new best friend. And her only friend. But still, progress!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the second chapter, hope you liked it. I want to make a good first impression.


	3. Island Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being stranded on a deserted island isn't so bad when you have someone to talk to.

Sitting in her little hovel wasn’t a good idea with two people. It was fine when it was just her but Rino made it too cramped. He sat cross-legged silently, looking around the clearing, while she tucked her knees under her, just happy to have some sort of company after being alone for so long.

“So, you’ve lived here, alone, for nearly six months, and on your first day here you managed to not only find and eat a devil fruit, but quite likely a Mythic Zoan?” he said, looking at her with blatant disbelief, “What kind of crazy luck do you have?”

“What’s a devil fruit?” she asked, ignoring the comment about her luck. She couldn’t be _that_ lucky if she ended up on this island.

“The swirly red peach you ate,” Rino began to explain, “Devil fruits are mystical fruits that, when you eat them, give people amazing powers, with the price of taking their ability to swim. Things like flight, super speed, being made of various elements, turning into animals. Or, in your case, turning into an Oni.”

“Oni? What’s an Oni?” she asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“It’s like a kind of demon,” he said, “That’s why I said the fruit you ate is likely a Mythic Zoan, because Oni are mythical creatures. But Zoan users usually have three forms, not just two.” She perked up at that.

“Oh, I have another form! Watch!” she barely had to concentrate anymore, she was so used to the transformation. She basically blinked and was suddenly around Rino’s height, startling him. She smiled even as she tried to blow another lock of hair from her face.

“Amazing…” he said, rubbing his chin, “So this is your full Oni form.”

“I call it Monster form,” she clarified before shrinking down to the middle form, “And I call this Mini-monster.”

“Well good for you, you’re wrong,” he said, smirking as she pouted, “It’s interesting that you’re so good at using your powers already, considering you’re probably five years old.”

“Six,” she suddenly said.

“Huh?”

‘I’m six years old,” she affirmed, then scrunched her eyebrows. _How do I know that? And why am I so sure?_

“Okay, you’re six then.”

“Now I have some questions for you!” she said, wanting to know more about her new friend, “What’s it say on your hat?”

“Oh this?” he took off the hat and showed it to her, “It says Marine.”  
“What’s a Marine?”

“Well,” Rino scratched his head like he was trying to figure out how to explain, “Marines are peace keepers, mostly, they stop criminals, protect innocent civilians, and fight pirates. Usually, they’re pretty good people. I’m actually a Captain, or I was before I retired.”

“Oh, neat!” she said, trying to remember what he said, “How’d you end up here?”

“Uh pretty sure I got thrown off the ship I was on during that storm,” he said, looking down at the ground, “And if my hunch is right, there’s not much of a chance of rescue.”  
That made her blood freeze, her entire happy mood evaporating in a second. “What do you mean?” she asked, really hoping that he wasn’t saying what she thought he was.

Rino sighed, “I mean, the ship I was on was a civilian ship. They lose passengers all the time. I don’t think they’re going to call out a massive search party for one old man overboard, especially in the East Blue,” he ran a hand through his long grey hair before continuing, “Not only that but in terms of escaping the island we’re also stuck. I have survivalist training, but I can’t build a raft or anything like that, and you can’t swim. So, one accident and you fall overboard and never resurface,” he sighed, “Sorry kid, but that’s how it is.”

She sat in silence, staring at the ground between them. Rino had just dumped a bunch of bad news on her lap without so much as a warning. Part of her hadn’t even considered getting off the island, seeing it as some far-off dream that could never happen. But some small part of her had still clung to hope that it was possible. A part of her that was just silenced.

Rino saw her downtrodden expression and tried to quickly turn her mood around, “Hey, it’s not all bad.” She looked up at him, confused. He gave a grin at her and spread his arms out, “I mean, look around! You’re not even ten and you’ve survived on a deserted island on your own for half a year! Living off the land, dodging predators, even made yourself some shelter,” he jammed a thumb towards himself, “And now you’ve got a hardened Marine to help it go even smoother.”

She stared him for a minute, shocked that he could call anything about the situation _good_. Slowly, a smile started to reappear on her face. “I guess that’s true.”

He nodded, the grin still on his face before stroking his chin and thinking, “First things first, you need a name.” She sat up straight at that, she hadn’t really needed a name while she was one her own, but that wouldn’t be possible now that she had Rino. “How about…” he closed his eyes and considered for a while, before snapping his fingers and smiling, “Koni!”

She smiled back, “I like it!”

“Then it’s settled,” he pointed at her, “From now on, your name is Koni.” Koni positively beamed at that. She had a name now, she was no longer alone, and her new companion seemed to know what he was doing! This was by far her best day on the island, hands down. “On to the next order of business,” Rino said and stood up, “We need to set about improving living conditions around here.”

“Huh?”

“Well for one thing, I don’t think we can both sleep in a tiny hole in a tree.”

“Hey! I like my hole in a tree,” Koni said indignantly, standing up as well.

He slapped his face again, why did he keep doing that? It looked like it hurt. “I mean we make the hole bigger, so we can _both_ sleep in it?”

“Oh.” She hadn’t thought of that, “Okay!”

 

And so, with help from Rino, life on the island began to improve, somewhat. Koni hollowed out more of the fallen tree so now they could both sleep comfortably inside. Rino taught her how to tie her hair back in a ponytail so it would stop falling in her face. As time went by, they started to learn more and more about each other. Koni found out that Rino had a big book in his massive white coat that he wrote in at night. Rino thought it was gross when he found out she ate fish raw, and so made a fire to cook some the fish, which Koni thought tasted amazing. And at around that same time, they both found out that in every form besides normal, she was fire proof. Which was good, because they found that out when Koni stuck her hand in the fire trying to grab some fish. For which Rino cuffed her upside the head.

Also, as it turned out, Rino was crazy strong! They were out exploring the island, or ‘getting the lay of the land’ as he called it, when they were attacked by one of the bigger lizards. Koni made to run, but Rino just watched as it hurdled towards him. When it finally got close enough, he just pulled back his fist and sent it back the way it came! And then he just casually walked back like nothing happened! Koni followed him back in a state of shock. When he finally sat down in front of the empty fire pit in the clearing, she stood over him.

“Something the matter, kid?” he said, shrugging off his outer coat.

“Teach me how to kick butt!”

“What?” he said incredulously, "You want me to teach you how to fight?”

“Yeah! I wanna be able to fight the bigger lizard!”

He looked confused for a second, “Bigger lizard… Oh, do you mean the Gigaguanas?” So, that’s what they were called? Eh, she’d stick to bigger lizard. “Why do you wanna fight them?”

“So I can be the biggest baddest thing in the jungle!” she said, putting her hands on her hips proudly. Only to deflate when Rino started laughing at her.

“Phhh hahaha! Sorry to break it to you kid, but even if you beat up all of those ‘bigger lizards,’ you still won’t be the biggest baddest thing on the island,” he smirked at her, “All the ones you’ve seen so far? They’re babies, small versions of something much worse.” Koni paled at the thought. _There’s something_ worse _on the island?!_ “You know that cave you should me a few weeks ago? I’ll be willing to bet that that’s where the mother is. And it’s likely to be at least five times bigger, stronger, and meaner than anything else on this island.”

Koni sank on to her butt as Rino chuckled to himself, shifting the rocks in the fire pit. “Biggest Lizard…” she muttered to herself. She was stunned for a few moments before she mustered up her courage again and said, “Alright, teach me how to fight so I can beat Biggest Lizard!”

He turned and looked at her, searching her eyes for a while. Apparently finding what he was looking for, he said, “You’re really dead set on this, huh?” She nodded, her gaze not wavering. “…Fine, but if I do, you have to do everything I say. No complaining, no whining, and certainly no quitting. Do you understand?”

“Yes!” Koni said, clenching her fists.

“Alright, follow me.” Rino shrugged off his jacket too and stood up. They walked to the edge of the clearing, and after testing the ground in a few places, Rino dug his hands into the dirt and tugged a large stone out. It was about Koni’s size if she curled up. Dropping it on the ground next to the hole it had made, he inspected it before turning to her, “Move this to the other side of the clearing.”

“Easy,” she said as she made to shift forms. She stopped when she felt Rino’s hand on her head.

“In your normal form,” he said, his expression serious.

“What?!” she took an involuntary step back in shock. He said nothing but raised an eyebrow in response. _Right_ , she thought, _no complaining._ She tried to pick it up, lifting with her knees once he said she was doing it wrong, and struggled mightily. Slowly but surely, she began to lift the rock from the ground, red in the face by the time it was level with her chest. Rino watched with the same expression as she struggled to walk with the small boulder weighing her down. With every step she wanted to put it down, wanted to rest, but she kept reminding herself that she promised she wouldn’t quit either.

When she finally reached the other end of the clearing, she dropped the rock, narrowly missing her foot. Panting heavily, she heard Rino say, “As you get stronger in this form, so too will your half and full Oni forms get stronger. So, if you want to get strong, I’m going to push you to and past your limits. Now,” Koni looked up at him, wondering what was next, “Bring it back.” Part of Koni suddenly regretted asking Rino to train her. A part of her that was immediately squashed by a sense of burning determination.

So, she picked the rock back up.

 

Falling on her bed of palm fronds felt better than it ever had that evening. Rino basically had her haul the rock around all day, only stopping for lunch and dinner. He sat outside by the fire, writing in his book again. The thick volume never seemed to leave his person. Getting up again, groaning at her stiff and sore muscles, she sat down next to him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye but said nothing.

“What’s that book?” she asked glancing at the pages, laden with writing.

“It’s my logbook,” he said simply, putting a dot at the end of a bunch of letters and putting away his pen, “It’s where I write my life story. I used to write what happened every day, but since coming to this island I’ve only been writing the interesting stuff. I don’t have infinite pages or ink.” He chuckled as he showed her the book. She carefully took it from him, flipping through the thick pages, all packed with neat lettering. “Every single page of that is filled with stories, the adventures I’ve had, the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been. My entire time in the Marines.” Even if she couldn’t read it, she was amazed that one person could have so many stories. She had one or two because of her time on the island, but Rino had at least a hundred.

“Can you tell me some?” she asked, looking up at him excitedly.

He stroked his short beard and thought for a moment, “Let’s see… How about I tell you about the first time I saw Marineford?”

He began to describe the grand harbor of the Marine headquarters, from the enormous sea doors to the sacred Ox Bell. Koni sat in rapt attention, able to visualize the harbor and city of pristine white stone as he described it. Eventually her head started to bob as she gave into the exhaustion, fighting to stay awake and listen to the story. But, inevitably, her eyes slipped shut and her head slumped against Rino’s shoulder. Smiling to himself, he picked her up and placed her on her bed, before dousing the fire, and heading to bed himself.

 

And from that day on the two fell into a routine. Every morning they woke up, bathed, and ate. After that Rino taught her something, whether it was reading and writing lessons, fishing, knot tying, or even cooking, which only ended terribly the first few times. Eventually she figured out how consistently fry and prepare fish and a few different vegetables. He also taught her how to dress wounds after she got in a scrap with a big lizard and it slashed her arm. She got a pretty neat scar out of that, two triangular marks across her forearm.

Then, before lunch, training would begin. Rino came up with new training methods for her every day, running laps of the island, with or without carrying a rock, lifting boulders above her head, chasing down Chuckles without her half form, she didn’t manage to do that for a while. Rino didn’t even get into fighting for a very long time, but when he did…

“You’ll be learning how to use this,” Rino said, slamming a large wooden club into the ground. It was a rough cylinder with a carved handle that was wrapped in a length of cloth torn from one of the sleeves of his long white coat.

“A club?” Koni said, cocking her head to the side. The weapon was around her height, and the handle looked a little big for her hands.

He adjusted his Marine cap and nodded, “Yep! Most people write them off as too simple or easy to learn. But that simplicity it what allows for the greatest creativity!” he grinned as she stepped up to it to lift it, “I made it out of a branch from an ironsap tree I found towards the center of the island. Ironsap wood is interesting, it’s easy enough to whittle and carve when it’s still wet, but once it dries it gets tough,” he grinned wider as she let out a gasp as she hefted it onto her shoulder, a feat she wouldn’t have managed before training, “and heavy. Like iron, hence the name. Water resistant too. And now it’s your new best friend.”

“That I hit things with,” Koni managed to joke, trying to get used to the weight.

“Aren’t those the best kind of friends?” he laughed, before getting serious, “But before you hit anyone with it, you need to learn how to swing it.”

The first few lessons involved a lot more falling on her butt than she would have liked, but she improved with time. Even if every time she fell, she could hear Chuckles laughing at her from the trees. Someday she was going to catch and roast that bird. Eventually she started to wield the weapon with some finesse, using the weight to her advantage and letting it move _her_ sometimes instead of her moving it. And it turned out Rino was right, the stronger she got in normal form the stronger she got in her other forms. She even took out some bigger lizards in half Oni form. Turns out their skulls didn’t hold up too well against a small demon with a really big stick. Because of that, Rino used the hide to make her a new dress! A colorful lizard skin dress, very stylish. And durable!

Training usually ended at sunset, at which time they had dinner, and Rino told her stories. Tales of his own adventures on what he called the Grand Line, an ocean that spanned the entire world. Daring rescues, fights on the high seas with wicked pirates, islands that hung in the sky like clouds, people that could punch holes in mountains, freeze oceans, and cut ships to ribbons. He talked about the Marine Admirals, the Seven Warlords, the Great Emperors. But one of the things he talked of most was the King of the Pirates, and the legendary One Piece.

“The treasure to end all treasures. All the wealth and power in the world, and whoever finds and claims it will be the new Pirate King!” Rino declared grandly, throwing his arms out wide, “Gold Roger’s last challenge to the world. A declaration on the day of his death that set off a new age of pirates sixteen years ago.”

“Wow…” Koni said, her voice full of wonder, “Where is it?”

“Phhh hahaha! No idea! But that’s the whole point!” he smirked at her, “Why, are you gonna go after it?”

Koni took a bite of her fish as she thought about it, before shaking her head, “No, I don’t think I do. Besides, aren’t pirates the bad guys?” Rino just shrugged, “But I thought you said Marines fought pirates, and the Marines are good people!”

“ _Most_ Marines are good people. Just people who want to protect those who can’t protect themselves,” he pointed to the white coat sitting in their hollowed-out tree, “You see that coat? You know what it says on it?”

“Justice, right?” He nodded.

“It’s governing philosophy of the marines. Most take it to mean following the law, but some follow a concept called ‘Absolute Justice,’ which involves doing anything it takes to uphold the law. Even hurting civilians,” he grit his teeth at that, and only went tighter as he continued, “There are also some who use the flag of justice to do whatever the hell they want. Step on people, eat lavish and expensive food on the World Government’s dime, being cruel for cruelty’s sake, real bunch of scumbags.” He visibly forced himself to relax, loosening his jaw and sitting back, “Then there are some who believe in ‘Moral Justice,’ which means doing the right thing, even if it means disobeying orders. Personally, I just call that common sense.” He barked out another laugh. “Actually, in some ways people who follow Moral Justice are similar to some pirates.”

“So, pirates are good guys?” Koni said, trying to make sense of it. He slapped himself again, usually that meant he was annoyed with her, but he was still smiling this time.

“Some are good, but some are also definitely not good,” he clarified, “The best way to think about it is that Marines represent order and pirates represent freedom. And they fight each other, simply because that’s what they do. Doesn’t make any side better or worse than the other.”

She thought about what he said for a while, watching the fire flicker. “What if, if we get off this island, I became a pirate?” she looked up at him, “Would we have to fight?”

“Nope,” Rino said with a smile, “I’m retired, I don’t have to fight anyone. And if you did become a pirate, I would just be happy you’re doing what you want to do.” He took the final bite of his fish, tossing the stick it was on into the brush, “So, what do you want to do?”

She quirked her head to the side, confused by what he meant. He raised his eyebrows, as if to say he meant exactly what he said, so she chewed her lip and thought for a moment. “I wanna be able to tell stories. Like you do.”

“You’d need to go out on your own adventures. And your own log book,” he waved his own book, which sat next to him, “You’d need to do a lot to tell stories like me.”

“Then I’ll do that!” Koni grinned, “I’ll have a thousand adventures and bring back a thousand stories!”

“Phhh hahaha! I look forward to it!”

Yes, for a time life was good on the island. For a good while, actually. Just an ex-Marine, a demon child, and a tiny island out to get them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was nice, wasn't it?


	4. Victories and Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes our best days become our worst days.

It had been five years since Koni had woken up on the island. Now eleven years old, she’d grown stronger, and slightly taller, thanks to Rino’s help. She walked around with her club as though it weighed nothing now, moved as fast as she had when she first discovered her half Oni form in her normal form, and could take on any threat on the island, barring Biggest Lizard. Rino himself had changed considerably. He had a full bushy white beard, long white hair that he tied back in a ponytail, just like Koni. He also moved around a lot less, saying age was finally catching up to him. He left the hunting and cooking to Koni, preferring to sit and watch the world go by, or teach her when she felt like learning. He had taught her everything he knew, from the written word to survival skills, sewing and map reading, and how to properly write a journal.

So, after this long time, the two sat in the same clearing after Koni had finished her training for the day. She felt she was plenty strong, but Rino had said that training kept her strong, made sure she didn’t lose her edge. But the two sat just talking, Koni actually regaling _Rino_ with a story for once.

“So, I slipped behind him and grabbed him by the tail before he could react, then I swung him around and threw him face first into a tree!” she recounted, sending Rino into a fit of laughter. Once he had finished, she continued, “He didn’t move after he hit the ground, but I’m pretty sure he was just playing dead! I kinda felt bad for him so I just walked away.”

That got Rino laughing even harder than before, so much so that he actually descended into a coughing fit. Koni made to get up and check on him, but he waved off her concern. “I think you’re well on your way to being a hell of a story teller, kid,” he said once he recovered, getting her to smile even if worry still colored her expression, “I think you might be strong enough to take on the big one.”

_That_ got her attention, “You mean Biggest Lizard?” She felt excitement bubbling in her chest, even as Rino facepalmed again, he eventually told her what the gesture was called.

“The fact that you still insist on calling it that. They’re called Gigaguanas for god’s sake,” he sounded annoyed, but his face was amused, “Well, what are you waiting for?”

She blinked, “What, now?”

“Yes, now! Get going, that reptile isn’t going to be there forever,” he said, shooing her away.

Grinning, she jumped to her feet and hefted her club over her shoulder, “Let’s go then!”

Rino shook his head, “You’re going alone this time.” Koni stopped in her tracks, furrowing her brow at him. “You said you wanted to beat ‘Biggest Lizard,’ so I want you to go and beat it on your own. Besides,” he said with another smile, “then you can come back and tell me the story!”

She returned the smile with one of her own, nodding before turning and setting off. “I’ll see you in a bit, old man!”

“Damn brat!” he called back, chuckling. When she was well out of earshot, he started into another coughing fit that he had been holding back while talking. Once he finally stopped, he felt quite lightheaded. Looking down at his sleeve, he saw a great red patch where he’d coughed into it. “That’s not good…” he muttered to himself. Then the world started to tip sideways…

 

Koni stood before the entrance to Biggest Lizard’s cave, gripping the handle of her club. She felt the same tension in her body as the day she first entered the jungle. She shifted into her Half Oni form so she could see in the dark better, but even then, the cave’s mouth looked like some dark abyss. Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves, and ventured forward.

The cave echoed with each step, making it seem like it was a lot more than just one girl walking in. She wasn’t even at the edge of the light from the entrance when a deep growl filled the space, aided by the echo. The hairs on the back of Koni’s neck stood up as a shiver ran down her spine. Some deep animal instinct told her to run, hard and fast so she wouldn’t have to face whatever it was that made that noise. She swallowed that fear, gripped her club just a little tighter. It wasn’t long before she finally saw her target.

Deep in the gloom was an immense shape. It was at least five times bigger and spikier than the other lizards on the island, like a crown or a collar of spikes, marking it as king on the island. If it was anything like its offspring, then its scales were green, but would shine with different colors in the light. This was it, the boss Gigaguana.

“Biggest Lizard,” Koni said, as if in greeting. The giant reptile’s tongue flicked the air, tasting it before rising to its feet. Its mouth stretched open, letting out a hiss that filled the cave and nearly deafened her. Gritting her teeth, she gripped her club with both hands and rushed forward with a battle cry as it charged as well. Biggest made a swipe at her with one of its claws, so she dropped into a slide, the claw sailing just over her face. Coming out of the slide just underneath it, she made a swing at its underbelly, feeling the wooden weapon driving into the scaly flesh. It let out a noise that she hoped was one of pain, then dropped its legs out from underneath it in an attempt to crush her. Dodging out from under it with a yelp, Koni found her feet again just in time for it to turn its head towards her.

Gripping her club with both hands, she planted her feet, twisted her hips, and swung it horizontally like a baseball bat, shouting, “ **Oni Slugger!** ” The blow was enough to snap Biggest’s head to the side, which got her to grin with satisfaction. Until she realized it used the momentum of the hit to swing its body around to hit her with its tail. Shifting to Full Oni at the last second, she took the blow to the chest, knocking the club from her hand. The tail drove her into a wall, pinning her there and forcing her to let out a cry of pain. Thinking quickly, she opened her jaw as wide as possible, and bit the tail as hard as she could, feeling her fangs pierce the scales. Biggest’s eyes widened and it made another sound of pain before it moved its tail away. Dropping into Half Oni as she hit the ground, Koni dodged as Biggest charged her way. It just barley clipped her leg as she dove, scooping up her club as she got to it.

Getting to the side of it, she slammed the club into the ground and used the momentum to vault over it. She twisted midair to bring the club up with her, into a sideways spin to smash it into the side of the lizard with a cry of, “ **Oni Meteor!** ” This time the blow sent Biggest skidding into one of the walls, where it shook its head, stunned from the strike. There was a pause where both combatants stood at opposite ends of the cave, staring at each other through the darkness. Then, as the tension reached its peak, they both charged. Biggest plowed forward, intent on crushing the demonic pest. Before she reached it, Koni leapt in the air as high as she could, surprising the lizard. She switched to Full Oni at the peak of her jump, feeling the tip of her horns brush the top of the cavern.

Holding her club in one hand, she brought it over her head as she began to descend. As she fell, she yelled out, “ **Akuma Crater!** ” She brought the club crashing down on Biggest’s head, slamming it down to the ground, the rock beneath it cracking and splintering from the force and weight of the attack. A great wave of dust came from the cave floor, obscuring the entire lizard. Koni jumped back, and for a moment there was no sound but that of the strike’s echo and her own ragged breathing. She brought the club back up, ready for the counter attack.

But none came. As the dust cleared, she saw Biggest still on the ground, still as the Calm Belt. Slowly approaching, she saw blood leaking from the wound she had made with the final attack, as well as seeping into the cracks in the ground. She was stunned into silence for a long moment.

“I did it?” she whispered, almost not believing it. She stared at the dent in the great reptile’s skull, marveling that _she_ had done that. “I did it,” she said again, a smile stretching across her face, “I did it! I beat the Biggest Lizard!” She laughed, all the tension of the fight flooding out of her, replaced with relief and joy. She raised her arms up and whooped, the sound echoing all around the cave. Relishing in her victory for a while longer, she suddenly remembered, “I need to go tell Rino!” and set back off outside. As she limped out of the cave the sky was filled with grey storm clouds, hanging low over the island. She ignored the weather, thinking only of how she would spin the tale of her victory.

 

When she arrived back in the clearing the sky was getting darker as the storm approached. She didn’t see Rino immediately, catching a glimpse of his jacket in the hollow tree after a minute.

“Yo, Rino! Guess who beat some Gigaguana a-” she cut herself off, her club slipping off her shoulder and slamming onto the ground behind her. Rino was laying on his bed, giving off quiet, labored breaths.

The front of his shirt was covered in blood.

“Rino!” Koni exclaimed, running to his side, “Rino, are you okay?!”

His eyes fluttered open slowly at her voice, and he smiled weakly as he saw her, “Hey, kid. Did you win?”

“Y-yeah, I did but,” she looked over him, concern and distress all over her face, “Rino why are you-” He cut her off with a coughing fit, sending her mind into a panic as more blood flew from his lips.

“Hey,” he said, a trickle of blood falling from the side of his mouth, “When you get off the island-”

“When we get off island,” she interrupted, “Rino, you-”

“When _you_ get off the island,” he insisted, reaching for her hand and clutching it, “You’re gonna go on a thousand adventures, and bring back a thousand stories, right?” She swallowed and nodded, not trusting her voice. “Promise you’ll come back and tell me them, alright?” She hesitated, not totally understanding. “Promise me, okay?”

“I promise,” she said, fighting to keep her voice steady. The rain began to fall outside.

“Good,” he said, smiling. His eyes searched around until they landed on the thick blue logbook in the corner, “Keep the logbook, read it when you get the chance. Use it to remember me by, that sorta thing.”

“Rino, I,” tears brimmed in her eyes as she finally understood what he was saying, “No-”

“Koni,” his voice was so soft and gentle that she couldn’t make a noise. He smiled with his whole face, the wrinkles around his mouth and eyes pushing emphasize the light in his eyes, “I have lived a long time, and been through a lot of adventures. I’m glad I got to spend the end of it doing something worthwhile,” he reached a hand up and cupped the side of her face as the tears began to spill over, “You know, out of all the stories I have, you were…my…favorite…” And then his eyes slipped shut, hid hands when limp, and let out on long breath.

And he was still.

“Rino?” she whispered, trying not to believe what had happened. Tears poured down her face as she gripped his hand and the wind raged outside, “Rino?!” she shook him, as if to wake him up, even as nothing stirred him, not even the boom of thunder that sounded. “ **Rino!** ” she screamed, one last time as she buried her face into his silent chest and bawled her eyes out.

For the first time in a very long time, she was, once again, alone.

 

Koni stood silently in front of the patch of upturned dirt at the edge of the clearing. A single post stuck out of the ground just beyond it. In her hands she clutched his white coat, one of the sleeves missing as he had used it to make her clothes, and the handle of her club. She held it up, looking at the word ‘Justice’ before hugging it close again for a moment. Then she stepped forward, careful not to step on the loose soil, and draped it over the post. She took a step back and watched as the old and damaged coat began to shift in the wind.

“Haw,” she heard from her side. looking down, she saw Chuckles sitting on the ground, the large bird looking between her and the grave before nuzzling her leg. She smiled and reached down to stroke his feathers.

“Yeah,” she said as he preened at her attention, “I miss him too.” She looked to the shelter, to the log book sitting inside it. She’d read it, like he’d asked. It was all the stories he had told her, from the very start of his days as a Marine to his last on the island. He wrote about her, about when they met, when he started training her, all the times she had gotten hurt or sick and how worried he was, all the times she succeed and how proud he was of her. It was filled to the last page, with a simple reminder at the end.

_Now go write your story._

That book was everything he was. Every story was him. And it finished with the promise she had made him. She looked back at the post, looking at the letters she had scratched down it.

**R**

**I**

**N**

**O**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tragedy helps us grow. Not that I have any place to get philosophical, this is an anime fanfiction.


	5. Visitors on Koni's Island

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're heeeeeeeerrrrrreeee.

_Two years later…_

Monkey D. Luffy sat on the figure head of his ship, looking at the island they were approaching excitedly. Nami had said they were stopping there to stock up on fruit, apparently the stuff they’d had had gone bad. All Luffy cared about was the promise of new adventure. He turned to look over his shoulder at his small crew. There was Nami, his navigator, who was nagging Zoro, his swordsman, to stack empty barrels so they could use them on the island. Usopp, their newest member, was doing his best to get out of helping, saying he was sick and couldn’t even lift a barrel. Nami wasn’t even listening and just shoved him back towards the barrels. Silly Usopp, if he really wanted to get out of working, he should just do what Luffy did and stay as far away from the work as he could!

“Luffy, get over here and help!” Dang, he really thought that was going to work.

 

The island stretched in either direction before the small pirate crew, the jungle imposing as it dominated their line of sight. Well, imposing for Usopp, mainly. Neither Luffy nor Zoro were particularly worried and Nami was too focused on figuring out what they could get from the island to take in the scenery.

“Let’s go!” Luffy exclaimed, leading the march with an empty barrel strapped to his back. The crew began the trek into the jungle. Every so often they’d hear a strange noise or bird call and Usopp would flinch, saying he’d rather be back watching the ship. Nami and Zoro were both getting annoyed with his cowardly complaining, until Nami finally had enough.

“Usopp it’s fine! There’s nothing on this island that’s a serious threat!” she snapped at him. Just then, as if to answer her, an absurdly large green lizard burst from the brush in front of them, letting out a hiss. Both Nami and Usopp screamed and hugged each other while Zoro thumbed one of his swords out of the sheath and Luffy raised his fists with a grin.

“There you are!” a voice sounded from off to the side. Immediately afterwards a blur of brown and green slammed into the lizard’s jaw, sending it flying sideways. The blur skid to a stop just in front of the crew, revealing itself to be a small teenaged girl in a dress that looked like it was made from the lizard she had just smashed away. She had wild brown hair tied in a pony tail and a wooden club slung across her shoulders. Hefting that club with both hands, she rushed towards the lizard as it recovered.

“Give him back!” she cried, skidding to a stop under the lizards jaw, swinging it up, underhand, while yelling, “ **Oni Popfly!** ” sending the whole lizard skyward, before planting her feet and making a horizontal swing as it came back down, yelling, “and **Slugger!** ” catching the reptile in the gut as it fell. The poor lizard flew backward into a tree, back first, where tears sprung from its eyes and it spit something up from the force of the impact. Said something was a blue, saliva sodden bird which looked very dazed. “Chuckles!” the girl said, rushing over to the bird, “Are you okay?”

“Haaaw,” the bird let out weakly, trying to shake off the lizard’s spit.

“Good,” she said, relieved, before her tone took on that of a mother scolding a child, “How many times have I told you not to wander into big lizard territory? You’re not as fast as you used to be, what if I hadn’t gotten here in time?”

“Haw haw!” the bird ‘said’ back, almost indignant.

“Don’t use that tone while you’re still covered in spit,” she chastised, and her attention was suddenly brought to the lizard, who was now trying quietly slink away, which was impossible considering each step shook the surrounding area, “And you!” the lizard froze mid-step, its eye swiveling towards her in alarm, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, or that I’ll forget this.” The lizard looked like it nodded before leaving as fast as it could.

It was around then that ‘Chuckles’ noticed the pirates gawking behind her and let out a squawk to get her attention.

“Huh?” she said, looking down at the bird and turning to see what he was looking at, “What do you mean there’s some…one…” Her green eyes began to widen as she faced the pirates for the first time. She was shorter than anyone in the crew and had tanned skin, only marred by a scar on her left arm, two pale strips that stood out prominently. Her mouth hung open in shock as the pirate crew did the same. Well, Nami and Usopp were shocked, Zoro was impressed and Luffy…

“That was awesome!”

Was being Luffy.

The girl snapped out of her reverie and managed to speak, although in a quiet, unsure tone, “People? Real people?” a smile grew on her face as she gasped in excitement. She rushed over to them in blur of speed, kicking up dust as she skid to a stop once more, grinning manically as she spoke again, now full of energy, “Hi! My name’s Koni! Nice to meet you!”

“Hi! I’m Luffy!” said the straw hatted boy, before turning to his crew, “That’s Zoro, Nami, and Usopp!”

“Nice to meet you!” she said again, smiling at the new arrivals, “How long have you been standing there?” Before they could answer she gasped again, “Wait were you stranded here?”

“Uh, no,” Nami said, taken aback by the girl’s energy, “We stopped here to resupply on fruit.”

Koni whipped towards Nami so fast the older girl was surprised she didn’t get whiplash, “Then does that mean you all have a ship?!” Nami nodded, leaning back as the younger girl got in her face, “Woohoo! I can help you then!” She grabbed Nami by the wrist and started dragging her along, “There’s plenty of fruit trees near my house. I can show you!”

“Hey, wait, hold on!” the redhead looked back at her companions, “Guys, help me!” Luffy was laughing and following along while Zoro smirked and Usopp cowered behind him, scared of the super strong little girl. Eventually Nami gave up and started walking with the strange girl. “I thought this island was uninhabited,” she said, looking at Koni, who nodded.

“Yeah, it basically is,” she said simply, not looking away from the path, “It’s just me.”

“You’re all alone here with that giant lizard?” Usopp said, shivering at the thought.

“Not _just_ that lizard,” Koni said with a smile, “there’s a whole lot more, and that wasn’t even one of the big ones.” This news thoroughly unnerved Usopp, who started watching the foliage around them like it would attack at any second, “You don’t need to worry though, my house is outside their territory.”

“How long have you been here?” Nami asked, worried about the answer. Koni looked down and counted on her fingers for a moment.

“Seven years,” she informed, drawing a gasp from Usopp and Nami and a low whistle from Zoro.

“That’s a long time for a little girl to be alone,” he said, earning a glare from Koni.

“Don’t call me little! I’m thirteen years old!” she huffed before turning forward again, “Besides, I had Rino for most of it.”

“Who’s Rino?” Luffy asked the million berry question, just as they arrived at a clearing.

Koni’s smile took on a sad quality as she pointed across the clearing at a small post in the ground with a coat hanging from it. “That’s Rino,” she said as the pirates read the name scratched into the obvious grave marker. “Anyway, this is it!” she said, gesturing grandly at the clearing. There were indeed fruit trees just near the edges, as promised. There was also a large fallen tree with a hole in the side, the pirates guessed that this was the ‘house’ the girl had mentioned.

Zoro and Usopp both put down their barrels as Luffy went over to inspect the grave.

“Hey, is this a Marine coat?” he asked, looking back at Koni. The rest of the pirate’s heads snapped to look at the grave and back at the girl, who looked mostly unconcerned.

She nodded, “Yeah, Rino said he was a captain in the Marines before he retired,” she went into her little hovel as Usopp moved over to Nami.

“She was friends with a Marine, does that mean she hates pirates?” he whispered fervently.

“I don’t know,” she whispered back, “But it would be best if we kept it to ourselves.” Usopp nodded while Zoro rolled his eyes at the cowardly pair. “So Koni,” Nami started, “You said Rino was around for most of your time here?”

“Yup!” Koni said as she walked out of her hovel with a large blue book, “He taught me everything I know. How to fight, how to survive, how to read,” her smile turned sad again as she hugged the book to her chest, “But I’ve been alone for a while now.”

“It must have been hard on an island like this,” Nami said sympathetically, “Especially with those monsters running around.”

“Nah, they’re not that scary,” Koni replied dismissively.

“What?! They’re huge, what do you mean they’re not scary?!” Usopp yelled in shock.

Zoro snorted, “She’s four years younger than you and has four times the muscle.” Usopp hushed him.

“Besides, I’m a monster too!” Koni said with another grin. The pirates all stopped and stared at her.

“W-what do you mean?” Nami asked tentatively. Koni carefully placed the book on the ground, taking a few steps back before changing forms. All the pirates, barring Luffy, took a step back as the young teenager suddenly grew into a ten-foot-tall, red, horned monster woman. Her dress had seemingly expanded to fit her new gigantic frame, albeit stretched tight to her body. Luffy had stars in his eyes, looking like he was about to explode with excitement.

“Join my crew!” the other members of the crew heard those words and were simultaneously shocked and not surprised in the slightest. Luffy had asked all of them the same question based on much less than a shape shifting demon girl living alone on a random island.

But more shocked than any of them was Koni. She hadn’t expected the straw hatted boy to ask her to join them. Sure, she had intended to ask anyway but she’d thought they’d need convincing, given how the red-haired girl and green haired man seemed to doubt her because of her age. But, as she would eventually come to understand, Luffy played by no one’s rules but his own.

“Yes!” she boomed before shrinking back down into her Half Oni form, extending her hand to shake, “I accept!” She agreed before she could give herself time to change her mind. Luffy looked ecstatic at this new form too.

“Coooool,” he said before grabbing her hand and shaking it, “My name’s Monkey D Luffy, and I’m gonna be King of the Pirates!” Nami and Usopp froze, Zoro only winced, as their eyes turned towards the demon girl, still holding Luffy’s hand.

“Cool!” she replied simply, making the cowardly duo face fault. Koni gasped as she retracted her hand, “Does that mean you’re going after the One Piece?”

“Yup!” Luffy grinned. The rest of the crew just sighed collectively, Nami directing the other two to start getting fruit. The guys were so exasperated with Luffy that they didn’t even question it.

“That’d make one heck of a story!” Koni scooped up the book once more and began to walk back where they had come from, “Let’s go!”

Luffy, without missing a beat, followed, saying, “Heck yeah! Let’s go!”

“Ahem!” the two froze as Nami cleared her throat, “I’m very happy you’re both so enthusiastic about going on an adventure but we still need to stock up. Like we came here to do? Luffy!” she said, turning to the straw hatted boy, “Go help Zoro and Usopp collect the fruit, and don’t eat it while you do,” she gave him a pointed look as he nodded and ran to help the others, “And Koni,” she said more gently, as said girl snapped to attention and made a poor imitation of a Marine salute, “If you are officially part of the crew, you get to help too. We’ll sort out getting your stuff onto the Merry when we’re done.”

“Aye!” the teenager barked, as seriously as she could manage. Nami sighed as the younger girl zoomed off, leaping into one of the fruit trees towards the edge of the clearing and scaring Usopp enough for him to fall out of the one he was climbing. _How the heck did I manage to get stuck with_ two _Devil fruit users? I thought they were supposed to be myths,_ Nami thought as she looked on at the scene. This pirate crew was something else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly intended for this chapter to be longer and for there to be some sort of conflict that resulted in Koni and the Straw Hats joining up. But I couldn't think of one that made sense, because Koni wanted to leave anyway and there was really no reason for her to say no, even at first. Sorry if you're disappointed. Also don't expect a new chapter for a few days as I have personal business to take care of. Sorry


	6. First day as a Pirate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koni's new life as a pirate has begun, and it's already looking pretty interesting!

Koni wasn’t sure she liked being on a boat at first. She’d been on dry land as far as she could remember, so the constant motion took some getting used to. As such, she was clinging to the aft railing waiting for her stomach to settle. She raised her head, looking out onto the open sea and trying to see the speck that was the island she had left behind, but it had long since disappeared over the horizon. Letting her head fall again, she thought back to when they had actually left.

 

Koni stood in front of Rino’s grave, the rest of the crew standing at the edge of the clearing. She had the logbook in her arms and her club strapped to her back, not having any other possessions to bring along. The wind caused the justice coat to wave and flap, as though bidding her farewell.

“I’ll come back,” she said, her eyes tracing the scratched lettering, “And when I do, I’ll bring back the stories I promised. I won’t forget,” Koni wiped her eyes as she felt tears begin to form in them. Taking a shaky breath, she looked up as Chuckles flew in and perched on top of the post.

“Haw haw…” he cawed sadly, looking down. Koni smiled softly, reaching forward to stroke the feathers on his chest, watching as he leaned into the attention. With no one else friendly on the island, she had made a point to try and get along with the tropical bird, if only to stave off loneliness. He had gone from a nuisance to her closest friend out of necessity, which was kind of sad if she thought about it too hard. She tried not to think about it too hard.

“You’ll take care of yourself, right?” Koni asked as she withdrew her hand, watching as the bird nodded, she smirked after a moment and said, “I don’t want to come back and find out you were eaten the moment I left.” She laughed as he squawked indignantly at her, before her expression turned somber once more, “Goodbye, Chuckles,” her eyes dropped back to the post, “… Goodbye, Rino.” And with that, she turned around and walked toward the waiting pirates. She hefted one of the barrels, now laden with fruit, as she began to follow the crew back to their ship. _I guess this makes me a pirate now, huh? Rino said that he’d be fine with it but…_ These thoughts ran through her head as they headed through the jungle, and away from the only home she had ever known.

 

“Hgnnnngh,” Koni groaned as a large wave shifted the ship. Nami had said she’d eventually get used to the rocking, but ‘eventually’ didn’t help her ‘now’. She’d also said that the ship’s name was the Going Merry, which was kinda cute, she guessed. The ram figurehead was cute, she had wanted to hug it when she’d seen it but had decided that clutching a wooden animal head directly over the ocean probably wasn’t the best idea. The jolly roger on the main sail and flag was just a normal skull and cross bones with a straw hat, Usopp had bragged that he’d been the one to paint it.

Then Nami showed her their quarters. It was nice, it had a bed in the corner, along with book shelves and a desk so she could put Rino’s book somewhere safe. Her ‘bed’ was a hammock that hung from the ceiling and was decidedly more comfortable than a pile of plant matter on the dirt. The boys slept in an adjoining room, accessed through a trapdoor on the deck and a small window in the girl’s cabin. After Koni had all two of her things stowed away came the matter of the crew’s log book.

 

“You want to keep the log?” Nami asked with a raised eyebrow. When Koni nodded the older girl sighed and shook her head, “Keeping a log on a ship is a lot more than just writing down our adventures. You need to record heading, wind speed, weather conditions-”

“I know how to do all that!” Koni cut the navigator off, getting the older girl’s eyebrows to shoot up, “Rino taught me all about it! He taught me how to write concisely to save book space, and he told me that the logbook was an official record, so it had to be handled professionally.”

“Why would he know- Oh, right he was Marine captain, he’d have to know how to write a log,” Nami rationalized, slightly impressed with the teenager’s vocabulary, especially for a girl raised on an uninhabited island. She cupped her chin as she looked at the pleading expression on Koni’s face, seriously considering her request, “The log would have to be clearly legible, how’s your handwriting?”

“Rino told me it was very neat!” Koni said, smiling proudly. Nami chewed her lip for a few moments before finally relenting.

“Fine, you can start keeping the log. But!” she said before the girl got too excited, “If your handwriting is bad, you forget to record conditions, or I don’t like the way you write I _will_ take the duty back, understood?”

“Aye!” Koni said while snapping one of her mock salutes, grinning the whole time. Nami shook her head with an amused smile.

“Alright, show me you can do this, let’s do today’s log,” she said directing the demon girl to the desk.

 

As it turned out, Koni was telling the truth. Her handwriting was neat and readable, she kept the log detailed but concise, giving just enough description of events to make sense of what had happened. Nami was impressed, giving Koni no small amount of pride to have defied the navigator’s expectations. Nami had also said that when they got the chance, they’d get her some new clothes, since all she owned was what she was wearing. Nami did give her some new underwear to replace her old ones, which miraculously hadn’t disintegrated after seven years. Also, shoes, because Koni had never had shoes.

Koni heard a loud clunking noise coming up onto the aft deck. Raising her head once more she saw Luffy lugging a small crate of cannon balls towards the cannon next to the railing. “What are you doing?” she asked curiously.

Luffy grinned in his usual manner, “Testing the cannon! I found these in the cargo hold in the front!” He began loading the cannon as Usopp came up behind him, curious as well. Nami told Luffy there was a rock pillar nearby they could use as practice. The straw hat wearing boy took aim at the structure and fired the cannon. The sound not only scared Zoro awake, as he’d been napping on top of the galley nearby, but it also startled Koni straight off her feet. Scrambling back up she managed to see the splash as the cannonball completely missed the totally intact rock pillar.

“Wow, you suck at this,” Koni stated bluntly, looking over the water.

“Hey!” Luffy exclaimed, pouting, “Why don’t you try it then?”

“Are you kidding?” she backed off from the metal death tube, “I’m not touching that thing!”

“Move over, let the expert handle it,” Usopp said, walking up to the cannon. He fiddled with it, muttering about angles and drop off as he adjusted it, even licking his thumb and holding it up at one point. Eventually he seemed satisfied and fired the cannon. The sound once again startled Koni, but she and Luffy kept their eyes on it as it sailed through the air… and destroyed the pillar of rock.

“WOAH!” Koni yelled out, leaning over the railing to get a better look at the showering debris, “Direct hit!”

“Awesome!” Luffy exclaimed, “That settles it! Usopp is our official sniper!”

Usopp was still staring at where the pillar was a second ago when Luffy’s decision shook him out of his stupor. When he did, he reveled in accomplishment, managing to look sheepish and smug at the same time.

… _Shmug._

And then Nami called them in for lunch. She had made sandwiches, which involved all kinds of things Koni had never eaten before. Like lettuce and ham and cheese and bread. Basically the entire thing, really.

“So,” Nami began, gaining the attention of the rest of the crew, “We need to add another member to our crew,” seeing raised eyebrows and confused looks, she clarified, “If we’re going to the Grand Line, we’ll need to be able to have nutritional meals. Cause I’m not gonna make much else without some serious compensation.” Understanding dawned on Zoro and Usopp’s faces, while the Koni just looked confused and Luffy looked serious.

“Right! We’d need someone good at rationing food,” Usopp said with a nod.

Luffy looked up at them, “Right so we would need,” the rest of the crew looked on interest as he paused, “A musician!” Then the rest of the table groaned as Koni just became even more confused.

“Just when I thought you were going to say something intelligent,” Nami muttered to herself, facepalming, “No, I meant a cook.”

“Oh,” Luffy said before grinning, “That too, yeah.”

“I can cook!” Koni offered, smiling excitedly.

“You can?” Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.

Koni nodded, “Uh huh! I can cook fish!”

“By roasting it over a fire,” Nami said more than asked.

“Yup!”

Nami sighed, “Thanks for the offer Koni, but not exactly what we’re looking for.” Koni quirked her head to the side, not really understanding but nodding anyway. Before anything else could be said, there was a crash from outside, followed by an angry voice.

“Come out you damn pirates!” Luffy rushed out the door while Nami and Usopp crowded the window, with Koni standing behind them, cursing her lack of height. Zoro didn’t move from his position next to the fridge. They heard Luffy shouting at whoever was on the ship.

“How many are there?” Zoro asked.

“One, I think,” Nami said, waving off Koni as she tried to get a view of outside.

“Then let him handle it.”

Just as Zoro said that, they heard the man shout again, “You bastards think you can just attack us and try to kill my partner?!”

“Wait,” Zoro muttered, finally getting up, “That voice…” He brushed the other three aside as he opened the door, looking over the, now partially destroyed, railing at the man Luffy had just thrown into the wall below it, who had a blue jacket and white pants, along with sunglasses and a tattoo reading ‘Sea’ on his face. “Johnny?”

“What?!” ‘Johnny’ got to his feet as quick as he could, “Who dares use my name so casually?!” Looking up and seeing Zoro above him, his eyes widened behind his sunglasses, “Zoro-bro?!”

“Where’s Yosaku? Wasn’t he with you?” Zoro said, casually conversing with a man that had been smashing up their ship not half a minute ago.

“Wait,” Luffy said, confused, “You two know each other?”

 

As it turns out, they did. Zoro had been a bounty hunter before joining the crew, and he had been friends with Johnny for a while, along with another man named Yosaku. Apparently Yosaku was sick and they had been resting on an outcropping of a large rock pillar when it blew up.

_Oops…_

Anyway, he had come over, believing the pirates had attacked them and started wrecking their ship before Luffy stopped him. And now they had an unconscious man lying on their deck, he had a green coat and yellow shorts on, with some kind of weird red headgear. He also had bandages all over him and looked like he was dead.

“I-is Yosaku gonna d-die, bro?” Johnny asked, tears streaming from beneath his sunglasses.

 _Wait, Zoro and this guy are brothers?_ Koni thought to herself, looking between the two men as Nami called them idiots and told Luffy and Usopp to go into storage, _But they look nothing alike…_

Then Nami had Luffy and Usopp pour lime juice down Yosaku’s throat, saying something about ‘scarvy’. Koni wasn’t really listening, she was too busy poking Yosaku’s face until he woke up, her preferred method. The two boys tried jamming a couple of limes into his mouth, earning another tongue lashing from Nami. Then he just popped back into consciousness, surprising the navigator. The two partners began dancing arm in arm, celebrating Yosaku’s miraculous recovery.

“You don’t just recover like that!” Nami yelled at the two men.

Once they pulled themselves together, they properly introduced themselves.

“I’m Johnny,” he said, looking serious with his arms crossed.

“And I’m Yosaku,” said the other, holding a small burning white stick to his mouth. Koni wondered what it was.

“And we’re the pirate hunters!” they said in unison.

“Zoro-bro used to be one of us,” Johnny said as the swordsman approach holding out a hand.

“I’m just surprised to see you guys again,” he said with a smile.

“Not as surprised as us! To think that the great pirate hunter became a pirate himself,” Johnny said, clasping Zoro’s hand. Then Yosaku fainted, likely because his body finally caught up with his enthusiasm, and they had to postpone their conversation.

 

“See this kind of thing is what we need a ship’s cook for,” Nami said once they had Yosaku sleeping in the cargo hold.

“I agree,” said Luffy, much to the rest of the crew’s relief, “We need a sea cook.”

“If you’re looking for a cook,” Johnny said, piping up, “I know a place not far from here with some of the best cooks around! I can show you the way, if you want.”

“Really?!” Luffy said, obviously excited.

“Yeah, it’s the least I can do for you guys saving my partner,” Johnny said with a broad grin, “It’s called the sea restaurant, Baratie.”

And now they had a destination, Koni didn’t know what a sea restaurant was, but she was excited to find out. In fact, she was excited about all the new things she already experienced! She’d left the island, become a pirate, met some bounty hunters, and was now going to something she had never even heard of!

All in all, a fairly eventful first day of her new life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if I got the dialogue wrong or order of events mixed up, it's been a long time since i watched early One Piece. Did a bunch of youtube research though, so hopefully it turned out well.


	7. The Floating Restaurant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koni joins her new crew in the most whirlwind energy restaurant she is ever likely to visit. Also, she discovers pasta!

The journey to the Baratie was a few days, during which Yosaku made his recovery properly this time. Koni had finally gotten used to the constant motion, no longer tripping over herself trying to stay upright, or holding her stomach trying not to vomit. It made living on the ship easier, which was good because she had to learn how to help with tying down the sails and other duties to make sure the ship stayed on course. She was a little disappointed that there wasn’t really anything to write in the log during this time but reasoned that not every day could be filled with adventure.

Johnny and Yosaku helped this somewhat, telling the crew all sorts of stories of bounties they had collected, with and without Zoro’s help. They found Koni’s presence on the ship a little strange, asking if it was really okay for a little girl to be on a pirate ship.

“I’m not a little girl anymore, I’m thirteen!” she protested, clearly unhappy with the duo’s assumptions.

“Alright, alright,” Johnny said, raising his arms in a placating gesture, “I’m just worried about safety. Zoro-bro has enough enemies even without the Marines.”

“Well, your brother has nothing to worry about,” Koni huffed, crossing her arms, “I can handle myself!”

“Brother…?” Yosaku mumbled under his breath, looking confused before understanding, “Oh, Zoro-bro isn’t our actual brother.”

“He isn’t?!” now Koni was just even more confused, “Then why do you call him ‘brother’?”

“Well,” Johnny rubbed his chin, “It’s just something you call people you’re close to, like you’ve been through so much together you’re practically siblings. Family, y’know?”

Koni didn’t really understand, but she tried to anyway. As the duo went off to do their own thing, Koni thought about what they’d said. _Going through a lot together makes you family?_ Koni scratched her head as she sat against the railing at the back of the ship, Usopp nearby tinkering with something, _Does that mean Rino and I were family? Would that make him my dad?_ Thinking about it that way made enough sense to her, so she decided to go with it.

“There it is!” she heard from the front of the boat, “The floating restaurant, Baratie!” Rushing with the others, she made it to the bow to see their destination.

It had a fish face.

Seriously, the whole front of the boat was giant white fish face, with a rudder on the opposite side. It had multiple layers with a pair of sails on either side of the middle tier. Also on the middle layer, above one of the doors, was the ship’s name in big black lettering. It was painted a bright green with white trimming. It may have only been the second ship Koni had seen, but it would probably remain the strangest.

“Marines!” Usopp shouted, breaking Koni out of her thoughts. She looked to the side and saw another ship pulling up next to theirs, bearing the word ‘Marines’ on its sail. For a moment, she was excited! People who believed in the same things Rino did! But then she remembered what Rino had said about Marines that abused their power, and she tempered her excitement with caution.

“You there!” came a voice from the larger ship. Standing on its deck were multiple men wearing the same outfit, white shirts with weird blue tie things and ‘Marine’ caps, except for one man, who was wearing a striped suit and metal around his knuckles. He also had pink hair, of all things. But then, Zoro had green hair so it wasn’t that strange. Koni only started paying attention again when Luffy introduced himself as captain and Usopp interrupted him.

“Wait, Luffy is the captain?” Koni said, tilting her head in confusion. The pink haired marine noticed Johnny and Yosaku and taunted them, provoking them to attack.

“Who’d you think it was?” Zoro looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. Johnny and Yosaku promptly got thrown back onto the ship, having gotten beaten soundly by the marine.

“Well, Nami tells everyone what to do and calls people idiots, so I thought it was her.” Zoro didn’t respond, only snorting out a laugh while Nami glared at him.

“Would no name bounty hunters go after bad guys like this?!” Johnny said, throwing a bunch of papers into the air. Koni looked at one that hit the ground, depicting an angry looking man with shadowed eyes and a dark beard. Yosaku snatched it back up before she could read the name though. Nami was crouched, holding one of the papers tightly. It had a man with blue skin and a weird nose.

“Sink them!” All heads snapped to the marine ship as the pink haired man called the order, walking away with a lady in a dress on his arm. Koni was alarmed and confused for a moment before remembering something else Rino had said, that pirates and Marines fought because that’s what they did. Maybe he was just attacking them because that’s what he did, maybe he wasn’t actually a bad guy. Either way, the other ship was leveling a cannon at theirs, and the pirates began to panic.

Until Luffy stepped up.

“ **Gum Gum Slingshot!** ” And stretched his limbs across the entire ship to catch the cannonball like a human slingshot.

_What?_

Then one of his hands slipped and the cannonball sailed into the roof of the restaurant. Nami yelled at Luffy while he recovered from slamming into the figurehead of the ship.

“WHAT?!” Koni shouted suddenly, startling the crew and their guests. She rushed over to Luffy and pulled on his face, distorting it, “Woah! Your body is like rubber!”

“Yeah!” Luffy said, despite her pulling on his cheek, “I ate the Gum Gum fruit and it turned me into a rubber man!”

“You ate a Devil Fruit too?!” she exclaimed, her eyes shining with wonder.

“Oh yeah, you’ve never seen him do that before,” Nami said to herself.

This shocking discovery had to be put on hold as they got to the restaurant’s dock and Luffy was immediately taken away by the staff. So, the crew were left to wait on the ship, Koni pestering Usopp with questions about Luffy’s abilities. Eventually, after getting as many answers as she could without the man himself on board, she stood next to the figurehead, resting her chin against the railing as she stared at the restaurant.

“Koni!” Nami called. She and the others were getting into a dingy, with the bounty hunters standing nearby, “We’re going in, wanna come?” Grinning excitedly, she ran to join them, holding onto the sides tightly as they were lowered into the water.

“Hey Nami?” Koni asked as Zoro and Usopp started to paddle.

“Yeah?”

“What’s a restaurant anyway?”

Nami blinked at the question before answering slowly, “Well, it’s a place where people exchange money for food.”

“Why would you pay to get food though?” Koni asked, “You can just catch and make it yourself.”

“Food at a restaurant is usually better than food you can just make yourself,” Nami replied, seemingly weirded out that she had to explain this. Then the dingy reached the restaurant, and Usopp got out to tie it down. Before Koni could ask any more questions, they heard a loud crash from inside. Rushing to enter, and hoping Luffy hadn’t gotten in more trouble, they opened the doors to see a blonde man in a suit holding the pink haired marine by the face. The marine looked to be bleeding.

“Messing with a sea cook,” the blonde man said, “Is a good way to get yourself killed… Remember that.” And he promptly dropped the poor marine to the ground. Koni really hoped that meant he was a jerk, cause Nami’s description made restaurants seem really appealing. Also was this just normal for this place? None of the customers seemed particularly worried about a man getting the crud beaten out of him.

Then there were a bunch of other people shouting at the blonde man, including another, older, blonde man with a braided mustache and a _really_ tall hat. Apparently, he had done this before, his name was Sanji, and he was the assistant head chef, whatever that meant. Koni could only get so much from the frantic yelling.

“What the hell is wrong with this restaurant?!” the pink haired marine interrupted the yelling as the pirates just sat down, “Attacking customers! I’ll sue this place into the ground!”

“I thought he told you to get the hell out!” the older chef said, kicking the marine to the door, just as it opened to reveal another marine from the ship.

“Lieutenant Fullbody! The prisoner, he’s escaped!” the new marine shouted franticly.

‘Fullbody’ blanched, trying desperately to stand, “What, how?! We haven’t fed him for weeks!”

_Okay,_ Koni thought, _so probably a bad guy, starving people is generally pretty bad._ Then there was a loud bang, and the marine at the door fell to the ground. Dead.

Standing behind where he’d been was a man with dark hair and sunken features. He wore a grey jacket with blue stripes and snake designs, with grey pants along and a striped headband that covered his eyes. He held a smoking pistol in one hand, something else Koni had never seen. The room was silent as he walked in, barely keeping his feet until he plopped into a chair at a table.

“Get me some food,” he said to the room. One of the chefs, a man with massive forearms and an equally massive grin, rushed to the man’s table, rubbing his hands together.

“Of course, sir!” he exclaimed, like he hadn’t just witnessed this man kill someone, “But I have to ask, how do you intend to pay for your meal?”

“Do you take lead?” the pirate said, leveling his weapon at the chef’s face. In that moment, all humor dropped off the chef’s expression.

“So, you can’t pay?” he said, before immediately taking a massive swing at the pirate. The blow shattered the table and rendered the pirate motionless. The chef continued to beat on him to the jeers of the other staff members and some of the guests.

Koni fidgeted in her seat, wanting to stop the pointless beating, but Nami grabbed her arm before she could stand. She gave Koni a stern look that got the younger girl to sit back down, looking pointedly away from the chef as he dragged the starved and bruised pirate out by his jacket. Because of this, she caught a glimpse of Sanji walking up the stairs in the middle of the room, likely to the kitchen. _What’s he doing?_ she thought to herself. _Everything is happening so much faster than it did on the island._

 

Soon enough the restaurant got back to normal, someone cleaned up the broken tables and spilled food, and eventually a chef came to take the crew’s orders.

“Uhhhhh,” Koni provided uselessly when it was her turn, not only had she been obviously distracted by the previous ‘event’, but she also had no idea what to order. Everything was either in a language she couldn’t recognize or when straight over her head. Eventually Nami took pity on her and ordered for her, something called a “Seafood Medley over Linguini.” Koni knew one of those words and it didn’t help her figure out the rest.

They also asked the chef about their wayward captain and were shocked to find that he was now working his debt off as a busboy. For a year. So they were going to be stuck here for a while.

Koni laid her chin on the table, upset at this news. She just kind of moped, casting her eyes around the restaurant. She hadn’t been in another restaurant, so she really had no way of gauging whether it was nice or not. In fact, she hadn’t been in a building before, did this count as a building, or was it just a ship?

“Sit up straight!” Nami said, snapping Koni out of her thoughts. She did that a lot. Koni looked at Nami curiously, before the redhead continued, “It’s proper etiquette to sit up straight at a restaurant!”

“Really Nami?” Usopp asked, bemused, “You’re going to try and teach the jungle girl proper etiquette?”

“She’s not isolated anymore, she’s out in the world!” Nami shot back, “She needs to know these things, at least so she doesn’t embarrass herself or the crew.”

Zoro snorted, taking a sip of water, “Good luck with that, trying to get a kid like this to be ‘lady like’ will probably be a lot- huh?!” He cut himself off upon seeing Koni, her back ramrod straight with her hands sitting in her lap, trying to look as proper as possible, “You’re seriously doing what she says?!”

“I can’t embarrass the crew!” Koni protested, “I have a duty to protect my captain and crew, including their reputation!” The other pirates were silent for a moment, taken aback by Koni’s sudden eloquence.

“Someone else told you that, right?” Nami said, breaking the silence. Koni nodded enthusiastically, causing the pirates to sigh in relief for some reason. Then the food arrived, cutting off further conversation. Before Koni was a large plate of steaming seafood and some kind of long flat noodles covered in a white sauce. It smelled delicious to Koni, who immediately started reach for it.

“Ahem,” Nami cleared her throat, getting Koni’s attention. The older girl gestured to her fork, which the younger picked up, not entirely sure what to do with it. Rolling her eyes, Nami began to teach Koni how to properly use utensils, how to spin the pasta onto the fork, but Koni figured out how to stab the seafood herself. Oh, and after tasting the food? Koni understood why people went to restaurants now. She didn’t know what this ‘Lingu-eenee’ was, but it was so much better than anything she had ever eaten. And she had eaten fish before, but these little crunch seafood things blew that out of the water. The other members of the crew noticed her reaction, mainly because her expression was so happy there were practically sparkles hovering around her head.

“You good, kid?” Zoro asked, amused.

“I don’t think I can go back to eating plain roast fish,” Koni answered, earning a laugh as she dived back in to her meal. Then Luffy showed up. He was wearing a small apron over his shorts,

“Oh hey, Captain! We hear you got saddled as the bus boy,” Zoro said, mockingly.

“A whole year, huh! You mind if I take over as captain?” Usopp said, also joking. _Hopefully._

“Hi Luffy!” Koni managed to say between bites of pasta. The rest of the crew continued to make fun of his unfortunate situation, although Luffy seemed more insulted that they were eating without him. He tried to sneak a booger into Zoro’s drink but ended up drinking it himself when Zoro forced it down his throat.

Once he recovered, he said, “Oh yeah, I got us a cook!” Koni’s eyes lit up at that, a cook from this restaurant? She would be able to eat stuff like this every day! HECK YES!

“For the last time, I’m not joining you!” came a voice from behind Luffy. It was Sanji. Now that he was closer Koni could see more details about him. Like his eyebrow, his strange, swirly eyebrow. His expression was serious as he looked at Luffy but changed suddenly as his eyes landed on her and Nami, seeming to turn into tiny pink hearts. “My goodness, what vision of beauty is this?” Sanji was suddenly on one knee before the navigator, presenting a rose, “Pray tell, if you would grace me with it, what is your name?” Koni was confused once more, but Nami seemed to be enjoying it.

“My name is Nami,” she said with a strange smile. She took the rose from his hand, the moment she did he was suddenly next to Koni, gently holding one of her hands.

“And who is this adorable little creature?” he said, catching her off guard.

“A-a-adorable?” the young teen stuttered out, not even noticing he had called her little. She felt her face heating up under his gaze, before realizing she hadn’t responded, “I-I’m Koni.” He smiled broadly at her before Nami caught his attention again. _What was_ that _?!_ Koni thought while Nami tried to convince him to join the crew.

“I would join you in a heartbeat, miss!” Sanji exclaimed, heart eyes activated again, “But alas, something holds me here, and I cannot simply leave.”

“Would that ‘something’ be me, you shitty eggplant?” came a gruff voice. They all turned to see the old chef with the weird hat and mustache. “Why don’t you go? We don’t need you here.”

“You got somethin’ to say, geezer?” Sanji said, his whole attitude shifting. He stance, voice, and expression were suddenly aggressive and combative, as if he was immediately geared for a fight.

“I told you to go, we’ve got plenty of chefs that can take over for your lackluster cooking, and it would be good for us too,” the old man’s eyes narrowed in a glare, “You get into fights with all the customers and give away food to any girl who bats her eyes at you. All the other cooks avoid like you were poison, so go off and be a pirate or whatever, but get out of this restaurant.” Whoever this old man was, he had no problem tearing Sanji apart with his words. And naturally, Sanji took exception to that.

“Is that how it is? You shoot off at the mouth and expect I’m just gonna take it?” Sanji began approaching dangerously, “I can brush off everything you’ve said but I won’t let anyone trash my cooking. I’m staying here as a sous-chef, and that’s final!” the younger man grabbed the older by the collar, shouting in his face, “You hear me?!”

“What are you doing grabbing your boss like this?” the old man grabbed Sanji right back and tossed him like an empty sack into the pirates’ table, though luckily they were fast enough to remove the plates before he crashed down.

“Damn geezer…” Sanji muttered as he pushed himself up, “You can try to kick me out, but I’m not going anywhere,” the old man started walking away, “Not until you’re dead and gone!”

“Pah! I still got a hundred years of kickin’ your ass left in me!” he said without looking back.

“Always gotta have the last word…” Sanji said to himself. Luffy slapped a hand on his shoulder.

“See? He said it was okay, now you can become a pirate!”

“Shut up!” Sanji shouted angrily. Then he fixed the table and immediately went back to being suave, putting some fruit desert in front of Nami as an apology. These mood swings were going to give Koni whiplash. Then he put one in front of her and she stopped caring. Usopp started shouting about something but Koni was too lost in flavors she had never tasted before. As Sanji told Nami that her and Koni’s meals were free, as if his boss hadn’t just berated him for that, and shouted at Luffy to stop slacking off a thought occurred to Koni.

_How the heck am I gonna fit everything that happened today into one log?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I'll be honest, the main reason this took so long is that I started binging the Phoenix Wright series. I really wanted to get the Baratie done quick because I have so much else to do with this. Also Koni discovering things is absolutely the best.


	8. The World's Greatest Swordsman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A pirate fleet in tatters, one man responsible, a fight for the ages. This is gonna take up a few pages in the log book, at least.

“I’m boooooooored!” Koni groaned from her spot on the middeck. She was laying out spread eagle, her club laying next to her. The other members of the crew were sitting around, with Johnny and Yosaku sitting off to one side. They had been at the restaurant for a long time now, and Koni had eaten a lot of really delicious foods and learned a lot about fine dining etiquette from Nami. She had decided that her favorite was probably the seafood, not just the stuff she had gotten on the first day but also various chowders, fish fillets and lobster. Either seafood or fruit, because the deserts she’d had were nothing to sneeze at. But even eating such delicious food couldn’t distract from the truth of the situation.

They couldn’t go anywhere while Luffy was working his debt off.

“I agree with Koni,” Usopp complained, “We’ve been here for four days now!”

“Can’t we just leave?” Koni said, sitting up, “We’re pirates, why do we have to care about some stupid debt?”

“We’re pirates,” Zoro said with an unimpressed look, “Not evil, you can’t just go skipping out on debts like that.” Koni grumbled for a moment before flopping back down. Zoro was right, much as she didn’t like it, but she was just so _bored_. And now there was fog rolling in so she couldn’t even enjoy the sun! And now there was a shadow falling over the whole area and- wow, that was a big ship! Koni got to her feet as quick as she could as everyone stared at the massive galleon.

“That mark…” she heard one of the bounty hunters say as the fog cleared, “It’s Don Kreig’s!”

“Who?” she said, earning a look from everyone.

“He’s called the King of the East Blue, and the leader of a massive pirate fleet. We saw one of his subordinates a few days ago,” Nami said, before sighing at the lack of comprehension on Koni’s face, “The starving guy who got kicked out on our first day here?” Oh, him. They had learned later from Luffy that Sanji had gone out of his way to feed the poor man, adding even more points in his favor. Honestly that was half the reason Luffy wanted to stay, to get the blonde chef into the crew.

Either way, the ship that showed up, while large, wasn’t terribly impressive. The whole thing looked one scrape away from sinking, and the sails looked like they could barely catch a breeze without tearing. It was a miracle the thing was still floating, let alone managed the journey to the restaurant.

Zoro, Koni, and Usopp all went to check out the restaurant as two figures entered, one supporting the other, leaving Nami and the two bounty hunters to watch the Merry. They managed to get to the second level, coming through the kitchen so they could surprise any opponents if there was trouble. The two boys had to pull Koni away from the food that was just sitting in in the pans, but a series of loud bangs from the restaurant below got them back on track.

They came downstairs just in time to hear Luffy declare, “I’ll be the King of the Pirates, not you!” to a giant of a man with golden armor and really big sideburns, standing next to the starving guy from the other day. The whole place looked like a wreck, all of the customers had apparently left and the chefs were all armed with giant utensils and all looked ready for a fight.

“Hey Luffy, need some help?” Zoro said, thumbing out one of his swords, which Koni had just now noticed there were three of, two black and one white. Wow she really needed to start paying attention, huh?

“Of c-course if you don’t need any help, that’s fine too!” Usopp stuttered out, his knees shaking.

Koni straightened her club on her shoulder. She had never fought anyone besides Rino, but she was ready to find out if she could take on someone else. Then the old chef dude walked up and deposited a huge bag of food for the golden man.

“There, meals for a hundred men,” he said, earning shocked noises from the chefs. The golden man grinned and pulled the bag onto his shoulder.

“I’m very grateful,” he said smugly, turning to walk out of the ruined door, “When my men are fed, I’ll be back for this ship, and that logbook.” He was taking the restaurant?! _I don’t blame him considering the shape his ship is in but taking someone else’s makes him a bad guy. But what does he want the logbook for?_

Koni quickly got her question answered, as the old chef dude, whose name was Zeff, had been to the Grand Line and still had his logbook from back then, and Don Kreig wanted it so he could navigate it without trouble. Oh, and apparently the starving guy’s name was Gin, and he had also been to the Grand Line, as Luffy asked him how he and his crew apparently knew nothing about it.

Gin gulped as he looked down, “We were only on the Grand line a week before it happened, I’m not even sure it was real…” he took a deep breath, “One man… destroyed 50 ships all by himself!”

“ **WHAT?!** ” the whole room yelled. Koni clutched the railing in disbelief. One man destroyed an entire fleet?! _People like that really exist?_ she thought, frozen.

“It all happened so fast,” Gin said, sounding exhausted and terrified, “He just showed up out of nowhere and started sinking our ships, one by one. We’re lucky that storm hit, or our flagship would have sunk as well,” his breathing became ragged and panicked as he tried to calm himself, “I don’t know how many of my crewmates survived, I don’t even want to think about it! That man’s stare pierces through you, like the eyes of a hawk!”

“What?” Zoro said, leaning forward with wide eyes, “What did you say?” Koni’s brow furrowed, she had heard that description before.

Zeff let out a huff, “That guy is most likely the man known as-”

“Hawkeye Mihawk,” all eyes suddenly turned to Koni as she suddenly spoke, finally remembering the name, “One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the world’s greatest swordsman.” Her eyes turned to Zoro, who looked nervously excited.

“I set off on the sea to find that man,” he said, drawing looks from the whole room.

Zeff’s eyes stayed on Koni for a moment before he turned back to Gin, “Anyway, that sounds like something he would do.”

“Maybe he had a grudge to settle with you guys,” Sanji said, sitting on a table.

“Not that I know of,” Gin replied.

“Maybe you disturbed his nap,” Zeff said with a smirk.

“Cut the bullshit!” Gin yelled. Usopp tried to cover Koni’s ears but she slapped his hands away, “Why would he destroy the fleet just for that?!”

“Don’t get so worked up,” Zeff said with a chuckle, “That’s just the kind of things that can happen on the Grand Line.”

“What kind of place is it?” Usopp said nervously.

“A place where anything can happen,” Zoro replied.

“Sounds like fun,” Koni exclaimed. _If there are any stories out there, they’ll be on the Grand Line!_

“We can’t go there! We’d die!” Usopp yelled, “Hey Luffy, can’t we just not go there?”

Luffy was shaking, and all of his present crewmates looked at him with concern. Then he threw his head back and grinned. “I’M SO EXCITED!! I was hoping the Grand line would be like this!”

“Can’t you take this a little more seriously?!” Usopp screeched.

Zoro leaned against the center pillar of the restaurant, smiling with excitement, “My destination is definitely the Grand Line. That man… I can definitely find him there!”

“Usopp, I’m pretty sure we were gonna go there anyway,” Koni said, pulling herself up to sit on the railing.

Then the whole room stopped as they heard a great battle cry come from outside. It seemed Kreig’s crew was ready to attack. But just as the cooks and pirates got ready to defend the ship, there was a gigantic crash, like the ship outside had exploded, as the Baratie rocked wildly. Rushing outside, they discovered that the ship had in fact been destroyed. _But,_ Koni thought, _it looks almost like it was… cut?_ The ship’s pieces were perfectly straight, as though is were split by a blade.

“Zoro-bro!” the pirates heard from the side. Frantically swimming towards them were Johnny and Yosaku, “Nami stole the ship!”

 

After they had gotten the two on deck, they began questioning them. According to them, Nami had stolen the ship because it had always been her intention to trick the pirates. She had never officially joined the crew, something else Koni didn’t know, and she was a thief that exclusively targeted pirates. So, she tricked the bounty hunters into turning their backs by telling them she needed to change and pushed them off the ship.

“DAMMIT!” Zoro cried as he punched the wall, “She’s just making this even worse for us!”

“Kaya gave us that ship!” Usopp said, clenching his fists in frustration. Koni didn’t know who Kaya was, but she could agree that this was bad.

“I can still see the Merry!” Luffy said, standing on the railing, “We can still catch up if we hurry!” Sure enough, they could see the ship just on the horizon. Johnny and Yosaku went to get their ship, which was detached from the Going Merry before Nami left. Just as they were about to set off…

“It’s him,” they heard Zeff say, drawing their attention. Through the haze of sawdust and mist in the air, they could all see a shape in the water. For a moment, it looked like a large cross just floating among the debris, but as it closer it became clear it was a tiny ship. Shaped like a coffin. With a man in a very large hat and a coat sitting in it. Zoro’s eyes went wide as they could practically see the chills run up his spine.

“Is that… Hawkeye?” he said, gripping the railing. Suddenly he stepped back, and thumbed on of his swords again, grinning all the while.

Koni’s eyes widened, _He’s not going to_ … Then he moved, sprinting towards Mihawk as one of Kreig’s men fired at him. And, smooth as silk and fast as lightning, he drew his gigantic cross shaped sword and simply deflected the bullets _with the tip of the blade_. While everyone freaked out that Zoro was apparently famous and had three swords, Koni was freaking out for a different reason. Even as Johnny and Yosaku yelled their support and the chefs declared both Zoro and Mihawk masters, Koni was staring unblinking at the swordsman. As Mihawk disappeared for a moment only to reappear on the piece of ruined ship across from the Pirate Hunter, Koni knew that something bad was about to happen.

She looked towards Luffy as Usopp tried to get his attention, and she saw a look so serious it seemed unnatural on his face. “You can feel it too,” she said more than asked, fear and worry filling her voice. Luffy simply nodded, and Koni turned back to the fight, fear weighing like a hundred tons on her mind.

Mihawk reached onto his neck and pulled off the cross shaped necklace he wore. He pulled off part of it, revealing it to be a small knife, “Regrettably this is the smallest blade I possess.”

Zoro’s eye twitched as his teeth clenched around his white sword, “Is this a joke?”

“I’m not some monster that hunts a rabbit with a cannon,” the Warlord clarified, “You may have a reputation on the East Blue, but you’re a big fish in a small pond. You have no idea how big the ocean really is.”

Then Zoro lunged forward, crossing his arms and yelling, “ **Oni Giri!** ”

**CLANG**

All three swords stopped dead, held back at a single point of crossing by Mihawk’s knife. The same thought rang in everyone’s heads.

_Is the world’s best really so far beyond him?!_

“N-no one’s ever stopped that attack, how did he?!” Johnny shouted in disbelief.

“Effortlessly,” Koni said under her breath.

Zoro let loose a furious string of attacks, but Mihawk deflected or dodged every one, while only using what was akin to a pocket knife. Zoro stumbled and Mihawk flipped him onto his back. It was clear that Zoro was worn out by the fight. Johnny and Yosaku went to help him but Luffy grabbed them to hold them back.

Zoro stood shakily, “I refuse,” he adopted a strange stance, with his black swords positioned behind the blade of the white one in his mouth, “To lose here!” He rushed forward again, “ **Tiger Trap!** ”

The it seemed as though Mihawk just reached forward and stabbed him straight in the chest. A collective gasp went through the stunned onlookers as Zoro stood there, his arms at his sides.

“You are defeated, why won’t you step back?” Mihawk asked casually, as though he wasn’t standing there with someone’s blood dripping on his hand.

“I don’t really know,” Zoro admitted, “I feel like if I retreat, even a single step, I would be breaking every promise I made. I would lose my honor, and I can’t do that.” Koni stared at the scene, taking in every word.

“That’s what defeat is,” Mihawk replied.

“Then I won’t accept defeat.”

“Then you’ll die.”

“I’d rather that than give up!” Koni burned that moment into her memory, feeling as though she had just witnessed something important. Everyone else, _including_ Mihawk, was stunned by his words. He stepped back and sheathed his small knife.

“Sir, state your name.”

Zoro reversed his grip on one of the swords, holding the two of them at a strange angle. “Roronoa Zoro.”

Mihawk reached back and gripped the hilt of his blade, “I’ll remember it. No one as strong as you has come around in quite some time.” He drew the sword and held it before him, “As a swordsman’s curtesy, I will finish you with the world’s strongest black blade.”

“Thank you,” Zoro said, strong on his feet despite his wound and fatigue, “I appreciate it.” He began to spin the swords in his hands, turning them into windmills of deadly steel.

“That’s enough big bro, stop it!” Johnny shouted.

“Zoro, no!” Koni screamed, almost lunging to stop the fight.

“ **Three Sword Style Secret Technique:** ” He pushed forward suddenly.

“FALL!” Mihawk cried as he too lunged.

“ **Three Thousand Worlds!** ” Zoro slashed with both swords as they met, sending out a great shockwave. Both men faced away from each other as the air stilled… before both of Zoro’s black swords shattered, and his chest exploded in blood. Everyone was silent as he slowly removed the sword from his mouth and stood, sheathing it and turning to the World’s Best Swordsman. And raised his arms.

“But why?” Mihawk asked, surprised once more.

Zoro smiled, “A scar on the back is a swordsman’s shame.”

Mihawk grinned, “Excellent!” And he slashed across Zoro’s chest.

“ZORO!!” both Luffy and Koni screamed at once as the swordsman’s body hitting the water. Johnny and Yosaku dove in, trying to save their ‘big brother’. The captain seethed in rage, flinging his arm forward to attack Mihawk, while the log keeper stood frozen to the spot. He dodged the rubber arm as it grabbed the railing behind him. Every pirate and cooked looked shocked as Luffy pulled himself forward at high speed, screaming, “Bastard!” even as Mihawk dodged to the side and Luffy crashed into the wreckage.

“You are that young man’s comrade yes? Thank you for taking care of him,” Mihawk said calmly, even as Luffy pulled his head out of the debris he had hit, “Rest assured, he’s still alive.”

Sure enough, the green haired swordsman was still alive, supported in the water by the bounty hunters even as Usopp and Koni reached to help him into the boat. Koni started applying bandages while Usopp used the disinfectant.

“It’s still to early for you to die,” Mihawk addressed Zoro, “My name is Dracule Mihawk! Travel the world, find yourself, become stronger! No matter how long it takes, I will wait for you at the top! Surpass this sword! SURPASS ME! **Roronoa Zoro**!”

“For him to say such words…” Zeff muttered in disbelief.

Mihawk turned back to Luffy, “Kid, what’s your goal?”

“Pirate King!” he answered with no hesitation.

Mihawk smirked, “Your goal is even loftier than your friend’s.”

“Who cares, I’m gonna do it anyway,” and then he stuck his tongue out. _At the World’s Greatest Swordsman._

“He’s alive!” Koni exclaimed, relieved.

“He was just unconscious!” Usopp added, breathing out a sigh.

Then Zoro raised his remaining sword, ignoring the protests of those around him. “Luffy, can you hear me?” he called.

“Yeah!” Luffy returned.

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Zoro said, breathing heavily, “If I don’t become the World’s Greatest Swordsman, I’d be a burden to you, right?” Luffy’s expression was stunned, for once at a loss for words. Zoro coughed, letting loose a bit of blood, as tears spilled from his eyes, “I will… I WILL NEVER LOSE AGAIN!! Until I surpass him and become the greatest swordsman, I’ll never be defeated again!” Both Luffy and Mihawk’s faces took on broad grins as they took in his words, “Any problems with that? **PIRATE KING?!** ”

“Nope!” Luffy responded with a slight chuckle.

Koni stared at the swordsman. She vaguely heard Luffy tell them to get after Nami while he stayed behind, but she wasn’t listening. Her hands moved on their own as she treated Zoro’s wounds, not fully aware over herself. The events played over and over in her mind, trying to commit them to memory. She realized this would make one heck of a story, and she wanted to make sure she could recount it later. She thought about the way Zoro spoke, about honor, about promises, and internalized those too. But one thought persisted beyond all of them, coloring all others even while she worked.

_Zoro is so freaking cool!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know I was gonna just leave this fight as like a paragraph, but I felt that wouldn't do it justice. It was so much fun to write.


	9. Arlong Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After leaving the Baratie, half of the crew chases down Nami, and finds a group of unfriendly fishmen

Koni smacked Zoro upside the head.

“Ow!” he cried, glaring at the girl, “Would you stop that?!”

“I’ll stop when _you_ learn not to do something that stupid again!” she shot back, smacking him on the head again. He was absolutely covered in bandages, so much so that it actually replaced his ruined shirt. Koni wasn’t the best medic, but she absolutely knew how to bandage severe wounds. She sat down next to him and crossed her arms with a huff, “You went up against the strongest swordsman ever, and nearly died! I think you’ve earned a few whacks.”

Zoro rolled his eyes, “But I’m alive, so it’s fine.” Koni smacked his arm this time, “Ow! Quit it!”

Usopp and Johnny sat off to the side, looking at the two like they were crazy. “Um,” Johnny spoke up, “Are either of you even a little concerned that Yosaku just got attacked by a shark? Or that we’re chasing someone straight into a den of fishmen?”

“Huh? Should we be?” Koni asked honestly.

“He’ll be fine,” Zoro waved off their concern. Yes, they were going towards an island that was apparently ruled over by fishmen. Koni had heard some stuff about them from Rino, that they were way stronger than normal humans, and that they could breathe underwater. This particular group of fishmen was led by a guy named Arlong, who was super evil, according to the bounty hunters. Not long after learning this, Yosaku got attacked and carried away by a panda shark. Which neither Koni nor Zoro seemed overly worried about.

“It’s not like he ate a devil fruit or anything,” Koni reasoned, “He can swim.”

“Not really the problem, little sis,” Johnny said, exasperated.

“There it is!” Usopp suddenly exclaimed. Indeed, they could now see a large stretch of land forming on the horizon. Koni couldn’t see the Going Merry, but she could see a tall building stretching out from behind a wall to the left of the island, and the sight of it made both Johnny pale in fear, so they were probably in the right place. Honestly, Koni was kind of excited to fight a fishman. She had only ever fought Rino or giant lizards, so this would be an interesting new experience. She could tell Zoro was excited too, as she looked at him and- wait why was he tied up?

More importantly, why was _she_ tied up?!

“Huh?!” she said, realizing that while she was distracted Usopp and Johnny had apparently attacked the two of them and both of them now had their arms and legs bound, sitting back to back. Was her attention span _that_ bad? She’d probably be more worried about that if she wasn’t so concerned about the ropes restraining her. “What the heck guys?!”

“It’s for your own good!” Usopp said, “We don’t want you guys going and getting yourselves hurt.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Zoro yelled, straining against his bindings.

“You guys know I can just bust out of these at any time, right?” Koni said, also struggling against the rope.

“Stop, Koni! Don’t be as stupid as Zoro!”

“Hey!” Zoro exclaimed, insulted. Then he felt Koni immediately stop struggling, “Hey! Why did _that_ get you to stop?”

Then they were spotted by a couple of fishmen on the shore. Neither Zoro nor Koni could see them because Zoro was facing away and Koni was too short, but Johnny and Usopp certainly could.

“I will remember you fondly, comrades,” Usopp said as he and Johnny dove overboard.

“Seriously?!” Koni cried, deciding she was going to hit Usopp the next time she saw him. She was going to shift forms to break the ropes so they could defend themselves when Zoro stopped her.

“Wait, hold back a second,” she must have made a confused noise, because Zoro explained, “This way they’ll take us right to their boss.” Oh, that was… actually clever. Maybe Zoro is actually pretty smart. Sometimes. When he wasn’t trying to get himself killed. Either way, Koni nodded and held still, waiting for the fishmen to come and take them.

When they did show up Koni was… surprised to say the least. When she had heard about fishmen from Rino she had thought they’d be really freaky, like super muscular people with fish heads. As it turned out, they weren’t actually all that weird. They looked like humans but with vaguely fish-like qualities: colorful scales instead of skin, fins, gills, webbed fingers. They even had real hair, which was unexpected.

“Who are you?” one of them said, scanning the two pirates.

“Does it really matter?” the other said, “They’re trespassing, let’s just bring ‘em to Arlong and let him decide what to do with them.” Koni and Zoro remained silent as one of the fishmen picked them up and the other went to collect their weapons. He gave a grunt of surprise when he made to pick up Koni’s club. “What the hell is this thing mad of?” he ground out as he hefted the deceptively heavy weapon.

“Ironsap wood,” Koni answered immediately, not really thinking about it. The fishman gave her an incredulous look before shaking his head and jumping into the water, his friend following after.

 

So being underwater and entirely helpless still sucked, as Koni was reminded. It had been so long since she’d been submerged that deep that she had almost forgotten but not to worry. It was still terrible. Almost as terrible as being tied up in front of what was easily the most intimidating person she had ever seen. He was big, blue, had long black hair, and a really long jagged nose. He was grinning at the two of them, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth.

This, apparently, was Arlong.

They were next to the building that Koni had seen from the ship, a pagoda surrounded by a wall that had two gates, one to the right of them and the other open to the sea, leading into a large pool that took up most of the surrounding space. They were surrounded by fishmen, with Arlong himself being flanked by a blue man with really long lips in a striped blue vest, a grey man with pigtails and really big elbows in a black gi, and a red and white striped man with weird spines all over his face and body, forming an almost headdress, he was wearing a red dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Arlong himself had a shirt similar to Rino’s, left open to reveal a muscled chest and some kind of red sun tattoo.

“What do we have here?” he said, tapping his fingers against his throne, “More humans skulking around my waters? Honestly I put up with your kind enough as it is.”

“Where’s Nami?” Zoro asked, ignoring the fishman. She could see he was nervous, though probably not as much as she was.

Arlong’s eyebrow raised, “Nami? What’s your business with her?”

“She’s our friend,” Koni said, drawing looks and a few laughs from the fishmen around them, “We came to get her back.”

“Friend? Are you serious?” a familiar voice came from the crowd. Nami walked out, holding a staff and looking coldly at the two, “When were we ever friends?”

“Nami!” Zoro said in shock as Koni was stunned silent by her words, “What are you doing with them?!”

“Oh, didn’t you know?” Nami smirked and showed off her left shoulder, which had a strange mark of a twisted blue fish on it, “I’m a member of the Arlong Pirates.” Her eyes suddenly tilted down, seeing the bandages all over Zoro, “What happened to you?” she asked almost softly.

“I lost my shirt, figured these would do,” Zoro replied sarcastically, “Why? Don’t tell me you care?”

Nami’s eye’s hardened, “Not at all.”

“You know these people, Nami?” Arlong said, leaning his head against one of his hands. Rage flashed across the navigator’s face before she schooled her features and turned to Arlong.

“They’re just a couple of pirates that I tricked recently, seemed to think I was really close to them,” she said with a sneer.

The fishmen immediately started laughing, Arlong the loudest of all, “Sorry to break it to you, but Nami has treachery in her blood! She’s a cold-blooded witch that sold out her own family for money!” Arlong started laughing again as Koni noticed a look of absolute hatred on Nami’s face. Something was going on, but she couldn’t figure out what.

“This girl seems a little young to be a pirate,” one of the fishmen said, leaning towards Koni, who glared back, “I guess these pirates aren’t too far off from us!” The fishmen started laughing again, even as Nami’s eyes darkened. The fishman leaned in a little closer, making the young pirate start to feel uncomfortable, “I wonder if we could get this one to-”

The fishman was cut off by Nami’s staff driving into the back of his head. The laughter stopped abruptly as the all eyes were on the redhead. Nami almost look as surprised as the others.

“What the hell, Nami?!” the fishman she attacked shouted. Zoro’s eyes narrowed. He shared a look with Koni before he steeled his expression.

_He’s gonna do something stupid again, isn’t he?_

Then he pushed himself backwards, into the water behind them.

“Zoro!” both Koni and Nami cried out, before Nami dove into the water to save him. The fishmen were stunned by this, while Koni’s mind was racing. Nami suddenly emerged, pulling Zoro up with her, coughing as she did. After hoisting him up on land she immediately started berating him, “What were you thinking?!”

“You don’t care at all, huh?” Zoro shot back, a small smirk on his face, as both Nami and Koni realize what he’d done, “You’re a small fry who can’t even let a man die. Stop trying to look tough.” Nami immediately struck him in the chest, upsetting his recent injury. Koni stared hard at the two, watching as Nami tried to put up an act that the fishmen would buy. Even as she laid into Zoro, both the swordsman and log keeper knew. _She hates it here._

 

Koni and Zoro sat side by side in the tower’s prison. The fishmen had decided to leave, heading out to Coco-something for some reason. There was still some milling about the Park.

“That was a really dumb move you pulled, Zoro,” Koni suddenly said, not taking her eyes off the door, “I oughta hit you again.”

The swordsman snorted, “But it worked out didn’t it?” Koni shifted her body so she could whack his shoulder with her head. “Ow!” he groused, shooting her a half serious glare, “Anyway, why haven’t you broken out yet?”

“Huh?” Koni responded, finally looking at him, “I thought you said to hold off?”

Koni felt like if he could’ve facepalmed, he would have, “Yeah, but not-” The door suddenly slid open, revealing Nami, holding Zoro’s white sword. The room was filled with tense silence for a few moments before Nami tossed the sword to Zoro’s feet.

“Get out,” she said simply, “Koni’s club is next to the throne, grab it and leave. Don’t come back.” And with that, she turned to leave.

“Why did you hit that fishman?” Koni suddenly said, stopping Nami in her tracks. The redhead didn’t turn around but tensed, her form trembling slightly. She said nothing as she finally left. Zoro and Koni shared another look before they nodded. Koni burst out of her restraints as Zoro easily snapped the ropes. They walked out of the door and saw light at one end of the tunnel.

“You ready?” Zoro asked, thumbing his sword open.

“Yup,” Koni said, cracking her bright red knuckles. It was time to see how tough these fishmen really were.

 

As it turned out, not all that tough. The two pirates made short work of the small band Arlong had left behind and were now surveying the wreckage. Well, Zoro was surveying, sitting on Arlong’s throne wearing a blue shirt he had taken from one of their opponents. Koni was walking around, trying to get used to the sandals she had found that were just about her size, also taken from a fishman that had weirdly small feet. It was strange having something on her feet after going barefoot for so long.

“Something’s screwy about all this,” Zoro said, shifting his sitting position so his leg rested on his knee.

“You mean how Nami clearly hates all these guys but won’t leave?” Koni said, goose stepping and feeling the sandals slap the bottom of her feet.

Zoro raise an eyebrow, “How did you figure that out? Aren’t you like ten?”

“Thirteen!” she corrected, “And it’s not that hard to see, she didn’t exactly hide it. The real question is why is she staying,” she stopped in front of Zoro, tucking her hands behind her back, “My guess is they have someone or something important to her with a knife to their throat.”

“Blackmail?” Zoro said, considering it, “But what leverage could they have?”

“I dunno,” Koni said helpfully, making Zoro roll his eyes, “And I don’t think anyone is about to tell us.”

“Either way, we should probably figure out where they went, that and try and find Usopp,” he said, standing up. Before either of them could say anything more, they both heard the sound of a trumpet blasting. They went over to the gate, hoisting themselves over it to see a pink octopus fishman with wild white hair roasting a giant piece of meat on a spit.

“Oh! Hello!” he greeted upon seeing them, smiling friendlily, “Are you guests of Arlong?” The two pirates looked back over the wall to all the beaten and bleeding fishmen dotting the park.

“Uh, sure,” Zoro said, rolling with it as Koni winced at the destruction they were leaving behind.

“Oh, well that’s great! The captain isn’t here right now, but I can take you to him if you want!” the octopus man said, still smiling.

“That’d be great!” Koni smiled back, happy with their luck at finding a gullible fishman.

“Well climb on in!” he said, gesturing to a pot sitting in the water, “Oh, I’m Hatchan by the way!” They both climbed into the pot, which Hatchan promptly lifted above his head with little effort and jumped into the water. Koni noted how little trouble he seemed to have lifting them, the pot, and her weapon, and decided that Hatchan was not someone she wanted to fight if she didn’t have to.  
The journey was short, Hatchan speeding through the water at high speed, and he deposited them on the shore at the edge of a wrecked town.

“Just head north from here and you’ll end up at Cocoyashi Village, that’s where Arlong will likely be,” Hatchan said with another grin.

“Thank you, Mr. Hatchan,” Koni said with a bow.

“Aw, shucks, it was nothing,” he said with a smile and a blush, rubbing the back of his head, “Say ‘Hi’ to the captain for me!” And with a wave, he was gone.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Zoro said, turning to walk off.

“Uh, Zoro?” Koni said before he got too far away.

“Yeah?” he said turning around.

“North is that way,” she said, pointing to the right of where he was heading, “You can tell by the sun?” He blushed and started heading in that direction. Koni quickly followed, silently thanking Rino for teaching her how to tell directions. She had a feeling that without her, Zoro would end up back at Arlong’s base.

Still, meeting Hatchan was a stroke of luck, hopefully that luck would continue!

 

“Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!” Koni shouted as she and Zoro sprinted along a series of rice fields, trying to get back to Arlong Park. When they arrived in Cocoyashi Village, they had found that the fishmen had already left, but not before flipping a house upside-down. Also, as they were informed by the village leader who had a pinwheel in his hat and _way_ more scars than seemed healthy or possible, they had taken Usopp with them after he attacked Arlong. While Koni was somewhat proud of Usopp doing something so brave, she was also terrified that Arlong was going to kill him. So now they were charging back to where they had just left in an attempt to save him, while Koni found out that it a was a little hard to run in sandals.

“We’ll get there in time, don’t worry!” Zoro said in an attempt to reassure her, even as he himself looked worried as they ran as fast as they could.

“We’d better! I still have to clobber him for tying us up on the boat!” she attempted to joke, though the levity fell flat. _I don’t see how this can get any worse._

“Hey guys!” they heard suddenly. Time seemed to slow down as they looked to the side and saw a boat flying towards them out of nowhere. Clinging to the mast of said boat were Luffy, Yosaku, and Sanji, for some reason. They managed to process all of this as they realized that boat was flying too fast for them to dodge. Koni squeezed her eyes shut on instinct and shifted into Half Oni form.

Then everything was just broken wood and panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that took a while, Saturdays are basically the only days I'm getting off now so sorry for the delays between updates.


	10. Lies, Stories, and Tragedies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is coming to a head on Nami's home island. Truth is revealed, tears are spilled, and a certain crew are galvanized to a single goal.

Everything was darkness and pain. The barest pin pricks of light peaked out from above her, like sunlight piercing through dark clouds. Also splinters. Lots of splinters.

“Owwwww,” Koni groaned, pushing out of the wreckage of the flying boat. The other victims of the crash slowly picked themselves out as well.

“What the hell are you guys doing?!” Zoro shouted, pushing some loose planks off of him.

“What do you mean? We came to help you get Nami,” Luffy said, sitting on part of the broken ship.

“AH, DEMON!” Yosaku suddenly shouted in panic, drawing everyone’s attention. Sanji’s visible eye bulged out of his head at the sight of the red little girl.

“Relax, it’s me,” said girl responded, brushing herself off.

“Little sis?!” Yosaku shouted, this time in shock, “What happened to you?!”

“Oh yeah,” Zoro stood up, “Koni ate a devil fruit.”

“Another one?!” Sanji exclaimed, his eye snapping between Luffy and Koni, before settling on the girl and his eye lighting up with a little heart once more, “Wow, so cute yet so powerful, do the girls in this crew ever fail to impress?”

Again with the whiplash mood swings, “Uh thanks but we have to move!”

“Crap, that’s right!” Zoro suddenly looked frantic, “We’ve gotta save Usopp!”

“IT’S TOO LATE!” they suddenly heard from nearby. All eyes turned to see Johnny standing in the middle of the path not too far away, tears streaming down his face, “USOPP IS DEAD!”

“What?!” not a single crewmember was silent, all stunned and unsure.

“Nami killed him!” the bounty hunter said, shocking everyone into silence. Well, everyone except Luffy.

“You take that back!” he shouted, grabbing Johnny by the collar, “She would never do something like that! Nami’s our friend!”

“Seriously? Why does everyone keep assuming that?” Everyone turned, seeing Nami a little further down the path, looking almost exactly like he had when she released Koni and Zoro, only now she was wearing a glove over one hand.

“Heeeeey Nami!” Sanji swooned, going all noodley and heart eyed again, “It’s me, Sanji! Remember me?”

“Ugh, why are you here?” Nami said with a grimace, “Why are any of you here?”

“Nami what are you talking about, we came to come get you!” Luffy exclaimed, “And where’s Usopp?!”

She sneered, “Sleeping with the fishes I’d wager.” The whole crew recoiled in shock, Koni slapping her hands over her mouth as tears began to form in her eyes. _None of this makes sense! She clearly doesn’t want to be here, so why would she kill Usopp?!_ Koni hadn’t known any of them for very long, but surely Nami wasn’t capable of just _murdering_ Usopp!

…Right?

“But he was your friend!” Luffy protested, not believing it even as it came from the woman herself, “How could you just kill one of your crewmates?!”

“For the last time, I was never part of the crew!” she snapped back, gritting her teeth with irritation, “You’re all an eyesore! Just take the Merry and leave, find a new navigator!”

Luffy was silent for a long moment, as the rest of the crew glanced between him and Nami. Suddenly, he started to tip backwards, and fell flat on his back. Everyone, including Nami, looked shocked at his actions, when he suddenly spoke.

“Nah.”

“Huh?!” Nami questioned, “What do you mean ‘nah’?!”

“I mean I don’t feel like leaving,” the captain answered simply, not moving from his position in the road. Nami stood in open mouthed shock for a few more moments before her frustration came flooding back.

“Fine! Stay here! Die for all I care!” she screamed at him, “Just stay out of my way!” And with that, she turned and stormed off. The rest of the crew stood in silence for a little while, not really sure what to do. Then Luffy started snoring.

“So, uh… Do we just wait?” Koni asked, as Zoro went to sit down under a tree on the side.

“Nothing else to do, really,” he said, leaning his sword against his shoulder, “So yeah, we wait.”

“Did you see how Nami looked when she was angry?” Sanji said, apparently still swooning. Koni and Zoro, along with the two bounty hunters, just looked at him like he was crazy.

It was around then that Koni came to a realization, a sort of epiphany. _This crew is seriously weird._

 

With their captain lying unconscious, the pirates were left to their own devices for a while. Johnny and Yosaku had since departed, saying they didn’t want to get too involved with something as dangerous as a crew of fishmen. Which, fair, none of the crew could really blame them. So, they had said their goodbyes and set off.

Meanwhile, the pirates were still waiting, mainly for Luffy to wake up so they could decide what to do. Koni was laying down in the grass, cloud watching in her normal form, while Zoro sat in the shade and Sanji stood watching the road with one of those burning white sticks in his mouth. She’d ask him what it was, but she didn’t want to send him into weird noodle mode. She _did_ have a question though.

“Do you think really Nami killed Usopp?” Koni asked, having been pondering the question for a while.

“Hmph, maybe, but I doubt it,” Zoro said, standing up and stretching.

“Maybe? What’s that supposed to mean?” Sanji said with a challenging tone.

“All I’m saying is she’s too small time,” the swordsman clarified, “She’s not capable of something like that.”

“You take that back!” Sanji suddenly snapped at him, “Nami’s breasts are not ‘small time’!”

Koni sat up and stared at him in confusion. _What the heck is he talking about?!_

“What the hell are you talking about?” Zoro said, echoing Koni’s thoughts, “Are you even listening to a word I said?”

“Apologize right now and maybe I will listen,” Sanji threatened, testing the ground with his shoe.

“You wanna fight, cook?” Zoro challenged, gripping his sheathed sword.

“Any time, moss head,” said cook answered, leaning forward.

“Guys, cut it out!” Koni exclaimed, finally having enough. Sadly, she was too late, as Sanji swung out his leg to kick Zoro, and Zoro went to block it with his sheath.

Only for both strikes to be blocked by Usopp’s face.

“Usopp!” the three conscious pirates yelled at once, waking up Luffy in the process.

“Usopp?” the captain said, before seeing his now bruised and beaten friend on the ground, “Usopp! Did Nami do this to you?!” he said, kneeling and shaking his friend. Sanji and Zoro both looked sheepish as Koni came up next to him and started poking the now unconscious sniper in the face. Luffy looked at her and asked, “What are you doing?”

“This is how I usually wake people up,” she said, not stopping her endeavor, even going so far as to start muttering, “Poke, poke.”

Luffy looked at her for a second before looking back at Usopp and beginning to poke the other side of his face, muttering, “Poke, poke.”

Eventually he regained awareness enough to swat their hands away, along with irritated yelling, and stand up.

“Johnny told us you were dead!” Luffy exclaimed, “And that Nami killed you!”

“So, Johnny _was_ lying?” Koni asked, tilting her head.

“Not exactly,” Usopp said with a pondering look on his face, “She pretended to stab me and pushed me into the water. I think she stabbed her own hand.” The other pirates winced at that.

“That explains the glove,” Koni said, earning a nod from Zoro, apparently the only one who also noticed it, before she smiled brightly “So that means Nami definitely isn’t bad!”

‘I wouldn’t say that,” said a new voice. All heads turned towards the newcomer, a tall, tanned, beautiful woman with short blue hair and an intricate tattoo covering her shoulder and collar bone.

“Nojiko?” Usopp said.

“You know her?” Luffy asked.

“We met earlier, she’s Nami’s sister,” he responded.

“Sister?!” a certain blonde chef suddenly exclaimed.

“Oh boy,” Koni muttered, already getting used to Sanji’s Whiplash Noodle Mode, as she had now officially dubbed it.

“I can see that the looks definitely run in the family!” he said, swooning over the new girl even as he was promptly ignored. Well him and the fact that Nami and Nojiko looked almost nothing alike.

“Nami’s not the person you think she is,” the bluenette said seriously, “I can tell you the story, but only if you promise to leave once you’ve heard it,” Nojiko crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at the pirates, “This island’s problems are its own, and we don’t need you meddling.”

They were all silent for a long moment, before Luffy suddenly said, “Nope!” and started walking away. Koni wasn’t even surprised at this point, having started acclimating to the weirdness that this crew presented. Luffy just straight out didn’t care about Nami’s past. Neither did Zoro, apparently, because he sat back down under a tree for a nap.

Nojiko stood, shocked by the captain’s attitude. Then she noticed Koni had sat down cross legged in front of her, smiling eagerly. The other two pirates that had decided to listen stood waiting for her to speak, looking expectantly.

Nojiko sighed before beginning her tale, all the while thinking to herself, _So these are the type of people who made you smile, huh Nami?_

 

To say Nojiko’s story was sad would be an understatement. Koni could think of a few other words to describe it. Like frustrating, enraging, heartbreaking, and other words she would use if she had a more expansive vocabulary or had read more than exactly one book.

Nami and Nojiko were adopted sisters, which explained quite a bit, and their mother was a former Marine officer named Bellemere. She had found them abandoned in a warzone and brought them back home with her. And she was a really good mom, she did everything she could to make sure the girls had a decent life, even at her own expense. Even back then Nami was a world class navigator and thief, well mostly just navigator. Nami got caught a lot and Bellemere had to talk the village chief, Genzo, the dude with too many scars, down from chewing her out, even if the former Marine wasn’t the best role model herself. But they scraped by none the less with their modest tangerine orchard.

And then Arlong showed up. He had come with his crew, landing on the island and demanded that everyone on the island pay him an outrageous amount of money or face death. Why? Because they were human, and he was a fishman and that made him better than them. Apparently. But because Bellemere was strapped for cash as it was there was no way she could cover the cost of herself and her daughters. She tried to fight Arlong off, Genzo said he would cover her cost and tried to hide the fact that she had two daughters.

But ultimately, the worst happened. Arlong killed Bellemere in front of the sisters, stole Nami after finding out about her talent for navigation, forced her to join his crew, and set up shop on the island, and had been ruling it ever since.

By the end of the tale, both Sanji and Usopp were stunned into silence, while Koni had tears welling in her eyes. None of them could believe what they had heard, that Nami had gone through such hardship, that she was still going through it.

“So now that you know, will you please just leave?” Nojiko asked, a deep frown on her face, “This island has enough problems without you guys stirring up more.”

“Not a chance,” Sanji suddenly said in rare moment of stoicism in front of a beautiful lady. Nojiko blinked in shock, not entirely sure how to react.

“We’re getting Nami back,” Usopp spoke up, his eyes full of an uncharacteristic fire.

“Captain’s orders,” Koni said as she stood up, wiping her tears with her arm before lowering it, revealing the same look of steely determination. Nojiko stood for a moment, marveling at these friends that her sister had made. Her words had not dissuaded them, if anything they had galvanized these newcomers. She suddenly turned away, smirked to herself, and walked away from them without a word.

 

Koni, Sanji, Usopp and Zoro waited. They couldn’t tell what they were waiting for, but they waited, a tense silence falling over them all. They could all feel something coming and were just waiting for the tipping point.

Luffy came walking up the road, from the direction of Cocoyashi, coming to stop in front of them. “Come on,” was all he said, and they immediately stood to follow. He turned around and led them back to the village. Upon reaching it, they saw a group of villagers run by them, all toting weapons and letting out battle cries. Nami stood where they had come from, trembling as she sank to her knees. Her hand slowly reached for the shoulder with Arlong’s mark on it.

“Arlong,” she growled, suddenly grabbing a dagger off the ground and raising it high, “ **ARLONG!** ” she screamed, plunging the weapon into the tattoo. Luffy began to approach, the others hanging back, as Nami drove the dagger into her shoulder over and over again, screaming her tormentor’s name each time. Luffy suddenly grabbed her hand as she raised it again, catching her off guard enough for her to drop the knife. “What are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to leave?” she said, not facing him.

“You did,” the captain responded simply.

“This island’s problems aren’t yours to deal with, didn’t you hear that?!”

“I did.”

“Then leave!” Nami grabbed handfuls of dirt and flung them at the black-haired boy, “Get out of here! Never come back!” With each sentence her movements slowed, until she was barely even brushing the dirt. She slowly turned her head to look at him, tears streaming down her face, and whispered, “Luffy… help me…”

Without a word, the captain took off his hat and plopped it on hers, turning and walking a short distance away, throwing his head back and shouting, “DAMN RIGHT!”

His gaze snapped downwards again, walking back to his waiting crew. Zoro sat underneath a small cabana while Usopp sat on the ground. Both Koni and Sanji stood, one with her hands resting on the handle of her club on the ground, the other with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a burning white stick to his lips.

“Let’s go!” Luffy said.

“ **Right!** ” his crew responded at once.

They walked in a line: Log keeper, Swordsman, Captain, Cook, Sniper: towards Arlong Park. Not another word was spoken between them as they advanced to their target. Once they arrived, the crowd gathered in front of the door parted, and a beaten and batter Johnny and Yosaku stepped aside. They stopped before the gate, Luffy drew back a fist and knocked it straight off its hinges, along with a sizable portion of the wall. Fishmen inside all stood frozen, shocked by the sudden destruction.

Then Luffy spoke and asked the only question that mattered at this point.

“Which one of you is Arlong?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took longer, my work schedule got changed at it threw me off. I'll try and get the next one out soon. Either way, this gon be gud.


	11. Versus the Arlong Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew has arrived at Arlong Park, ready to confront the source of the island's troubles. This can only end in conflict.

As the dust cleared on Arlong Park, most everyone starred in a stunned silence. Arlong sat in his throne, only looking at the intruding pirates out of the corner of his eye, even though his eyes were wide like the rest of them. The fishmen that had been surrounding him before were back, along with Hatchan. Most of the fishmen came running towards the black-haired captain, full tilt, only to be knocked back as quickly as they came.

Luffy’s expression did not change from the barely withheld rage it had started as. Sanji stepped up behind him as the rest of the crew began to enter the park.

“Dammit Luffy, can you go a little easy on them?” the chef said, lightly kicking one of the unconscious fishmen.

“They hurt Nami, they don’t get mercy,” Luffy growled, uncharacteristically angry, at least to Koni.

“No, I mean if you beat all of them there’ll be none for the rest of us,” Sanji clarified, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah! We want some butt to kick!” Koni said with a wolfish grin, earning an amused eyeroll from Zoro.

“Nyuh! Arlong, those are the guys I told you about!” Hatchan exclaimed, pointing at the two pirates with all six arms, “They took me for a ride! No, wait, I mean I took them for a ride, or…”

“Hi, Mr. Hatchan!” Koni called with a wave and a smile.

“Nyuh?” Hatchan blinked before returning the greeting with a smile and a three-armed wave of his own, “Hello!”

“So, you’re Arlong, huh?” Luffy said dangerously as he walked up to the lounging fishman.

“And just who the hell are you?” said fishman replied. Before anyone could so much as blink, Luffy slugged Arlong in the face hard enough to send him out of his chair and into the wall on the other side of the Park.

“Arlong!” all of the remaining fishmen yelled at once as their captain went flying.

“That’s for making Nami cry!” Luffy shouted, finally deciding to express his rage. Arlong began to stand from the rubble, his eyes turning bloodshot, before one of his crew stopped him.

“Arlong, don’t go wild here! You’d destroy the Park!” the grey fishman with big elbows said.

“If you do, we’d have to take homes from those worthless humans! We’d never get the smell out!” said the stripped fishman with weird spines. The crew’s brows collectively furrowed at his comment. _That seemed unnecessary._

“In fact, I’ll take care of them right now!” Hatchan declared before turning towards the sea. And playing his mouth like a trumpet… somehow… The water began to churn and rise as it seemed something was approaching the park. “Momoo!” Hatchan called as the water exploded upwards, revealing a gigantic-

“Fish cow!” Koni exclaimed in excitement, clapping her hands to her face as her eyes sparkled. Several thoughts raced through her head, _I wonder if he tastes like fish or beef,_ and, _why does he look hurt? Poor guy…_ But the thought that superseded all others was, _OH MY GOSH HE’S SO CUTE!_ Zoro looked incredulously at her reaction, while Sanji and Luffy seemed to recognize the new arrival.

Upon seeing the two pirates, new tears sprang up in Momoo’s eyes and he began to turn away from the park to depart back into the sea.

“Momoo! Hey, where ya going?!” Hatchan cried, waving his arms franticly. Momoo only stopped when Arlong spoke as he lounged on the rubble.

“So, you’re just leaving, Momoo?” his tone was light, but carried an edge of danger with it, “Are you sure?” he side-eyed the trembling sea cow, the threat in his tone now clear. Momoo whipped around and roared, fear of Arlong overriding his fear of Sanji and Luffy.

“Crap!” Usopp cried, already diving for cover, some of the fishmen doing the same. Koni was torn once more, on one hand the giant fish cow was coming back, on the other it was coming to kill them. Sanji and Zoro geared for a fight against the rampaging aquatic bovine.

“I’ll take care of him!” Luffy declared, driving both his feet into the concrete. He then twisted his body like a spring, drawing horrified or awed looks from the villagers and fishmen alike. Just before Momoo crashed into the park, the rubber man grabbed his horns. Sanji and Zoro realized what he was about to do and dropped to the ground, Sanji pulling Koni down as she just watched Luffy curiously.

“ **Gum Gum Pinwheel!** ” And then Luffy swung the sea cow like a weapon, his body uncoiling at the same time turning him into the world’s deadliest tilt-a-whirl. His crew were lucky as they had already hit the deck, collectively panicking as their captain revealed himself to be absolutely insane. The fishmen were not so lucky. Only Arlong and his posse were left standing after Luffy finished his attack and flung the poor, dizzy, sea cow into the horizon.

“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!” Sanji yelled at the captain. Koni decided she would stay away from Luffy if they got in a fight together, it was probably better for her health. Then Hatchan looked like he was gearing for an attack, so they tried to get out of the way. All except Luffy, who was tugging on his legs for some reason.

“Luffy, move!” Usopp urged, sweating profusely.

“Uh…” Luffy smiled sheepishly, “I’m stuck.” Luffy had somehow stomped the ground so hard that he actually got himself stuck, unable to pull his feet from the concrete due to, y’know, rubber.

“ **Takohatchi Black!** ” And then he got a face full of ink, courtesy of Hatchan. Usopp ran over to try and pull him out while Luffy just picked his nose, being decidedly unhelpful.

“And a follow up!” Hatchan yelled, lifting a massive boulder above his head, shouting, “ **Takohatchi: On the Rocks!** ” and bringing the boulder down on top of the two unfortunate pirates. Koni made to save them, but Sanji pushed her shoulder, silently telling her to stay back as he went for the two.

**CRASH**

The boulder suddenly split in two as Sanji took a deep breath and let out a thing trail of smoke, bringing down the leg he had used to kick the boulder in half. Koni’s eyebrows made their best effort to escape her forehead as she watched the display. She hadn’t known the blonde cook could do _that._

“What a troublesome captain I’ve decided to follow,” he stated, sounding decidedly exasperated. He didn’t even look at Luffy as he regarded the fishmen coolly.

“Who the hell are these guys?!” the long lipped fishman cried, wide-eyed.

“They said they were friend’s of Nami’s,” said the striped fishman, before he suddenly snorted, “Guess that damn traitor finally found someone worth a damn to try and off us. She got really lucky this time, even if they are just humans.”

“Don’t you talk bad about Nami,” Sanji and Koni said at the same time. Both had the same heated glare focused on their opponents, while Usopp and Luffy had the same surprised expression at how they synced up.

An ugly grin split the striped fishman’s face, “I’ll say what I want about that lying, cheating thief. She should be glad we deigned to let an uppity little human whore like her join our-”

**SLAM**

Before he could say another word, before any of them could fully react to his words, before even Sanji could scream a spiteful word at one who would dare say something like that about a lady, a large brown cylinder struck the fishman in the face. Said strike carried him, and the cylinder, off his feet, over Arlong’s head, and into the forest beyond the wall. Immediately following him was a bright red blur that most of those present only caught a glimpse of.

But Zoro had been watching Koni. He had seen her expression change, seen her throw her club at the offending pirate, seen her shift into her half demon form to give chase. And the look in her eyes is something he would never forget, a reminder that this little girl was just as dangerous as the former bounty hunter, the rubber captain, or even the pervy cook.

Koni had an inferno in her eyes.

 

Rino had taught Koni a few curse words. Not intentionally, but he had a habit of forgetting who he was talking to and they’d slip into his speech. He had told her that they were very impolite and not to be used in friendly company, so when she was in a fight, they were fair game. But there were a few words he said she should never use. Words that were so bad he would find her, wherever she was, and beat her upside the head if she used them. The words were usually targeted at girls, but sometimes not, and if anyone called her or one of her friends any one of them, she had his full permission to beat them into the ground.

And the striped fishman had used one of the words.

Koni skid to a stop in front of him, the impact of her club having knocked him through a few trees. He stood from the wood and debris, glaring at the small demon girl, who was giving as good as she got.

“How dare you?!” he said, brushing dust and splinters off his now wrinkled dress shirt, “A stupid little human like you has no right striking me! I am Rey, of the Arlong Pirates! My inherent superiority-” Koni suddenly shifted into Full Oni and cut Rey off with a punch to the face, sending him off his feet again. As he stood, he seemed mostly unfazed, despite a few of his spines being broken off. “A devil fruit user?” he mused, adjusting his sleeves, “You might actually make for an interesting fight. A pity you took us away from an obvious body of water, this will take longer than I’d care it to.”

“You sound pretty confidant for a guy I’ve knock on his ass twice,” Koni growled, clenching her fists. She hadn’t seen her club when she caught up, but she figured she wouldn’t need it to win. She’d just find it afterward.

Rey smirked and fell into a stance, “Cheap shots and sucker punches. I just haven’t had a chance to teach you how outmatched you are, mongrel. **Killer Needles!** ” Then he flung his arms forward, sending several of his spines flying towards her. Koni dropped to Half Oni and dodged. She got in close and took another swing at him, but Rey ducked and landed a solid blow to her gut, sending her stumbling back.

Koni breathed heavily, she felt like her lungs were burning. How was she this winded already? The punch he landed had hit hard but not _that_ hard.

“I’d imagine you’re starting to feel it now,” Rey said, smug as he advanced almost lazily, “The venom must be catching up to you.” Koni’s eyes widened. _Venom?!_ “You’re tougher than most I’ll admit, but it will only carry you so far. I am a lion fish fishman, and you really shouldn’t have aimed for my face.” Koni’s eyes snapped to her fist, and the tiny wounds the broken spines had dug into her knuckles, “Now you’re getting it, your grave mistake. The venom will cause breathing difficulties, muscle spasms, crippling physical pain, limb paralysis, a whole list of effects not particularly conducive to combat, and of course, in high enough dosages,” the fishman’s smirk turned vicious, “Death.”

Koni’s mind was racing, trying to figure out a way around this opponent. She couldn’t hit in anywhere that had spines on his body, which was most of it. She couldn’t get hit by the ones he threw or else… y’know, horrific poison. She dodged to the side as he sent another wave of spines, not giving her time to think. She grabbed one of the fallen branches and swung it at him, only for the wood to shatter on impact with his arm. The weaker wood couldn’t stand up to the demon girl’s strength like her club could.

“Weak!” he shouted, kicking her hard in the chest, sending _her_ through a tree this time. She frantically pulled out the spines he had left in her chest with that strike, feeling her blood seep into her dress. She could feel pins and needles going up her whole body as she stood, “Useless human!” Rey laughed, “No matter what power you may come into, it does not change the fact that fishmen are born superior! Why fight when the power gap is so clear?! We stand, far and abo-”

“OH, SHUT UP!” Koni shifted to her Half Oni form, dashing at the monologuing fishman, “I don’t give a damn about how ‘superior’ you think you are!” She slammed her sandaled foot into his face, sending him toppling as she landed behind him, “I’m here because you hurt Nami!” she kicked him in the back as he fell toward her sending him off his feet, “and I have a duty to protect my captain and crew!” she slid under him, even as he was airborne, and delivered a straight punch to his chest, the only spot without spines, in Full Oni form, “ **Oni Triple Play!** ”

Rey slammed into yet another tree, their little battle having made a sizable clearing in the once dense forest. “Would you stop interrupting me?!” he screeched, looking significantly worse for wear. Koni smirked before her knee suddenly jerked and buckled, causing her to fall to one knee and into Half Oni form. Rey grinned as she struggled against her seizing muscles, “See? This is how you are meant to be, bowing before your betters,” he raised his foot to stomp on her head, and as he did Koni saw it, behind him.

A darker piece of wood than the others with a white cloth wrapped around it.

As Rey brought his foot down, she suddenly shifted into Full Oni form, piercing his foot with one of her horns. Powering through the venom’s effects, she pushed him off of her as he clutched his foot in pain. She rushed and slid on her back, grabbing the handle of her club and using her momentum to pull it out of the debris and herself onto her feet.

“Gah! You bitch!” Rey snarled, glaring at the demon girl with hate in his eyes. Koni’s expression was serious, a deep frown on her face made all the more intimidating by her hair shadowing her eyes and the large fangs stretching out from her lips. She opened her mouth, but she did not speak.

She roared. Not to say she screamed or let loose a battle cry. The sound she let out was a raw, animalistic roar that froze Rey on the spot, some instinctual fear in him clashing with his rational thought. It echoed in the forest around them, reaching the not too far Arlong park, giving pause to the combatants there. The lion fish fishman was stunned as though paralyzed, unable to move, let alone defend himself as the demon girl towered over him.

Koni brought the club back, planted her feet, twisted her hips, and swung her club as hard as she could into the chest of her opponent, “ **Akuma Home Run!** ” she felt his chest buckle, to no small satisfaction, as she drove the strike home and sent him flying. He tumbled through the air, bruised and battered, blood flying from his open mouth as he sailed toward Arlong Park. He collided with one of the jutting corners of the tower, sending him spinning as he crashed into the park itself, coming to a stop against the opposite wall.

Koni didn’t see most of this as she tried to remain standing, the venom from her wounds causing her no small amount of pain. She was sweating as she attempted to take in great gulps of air, her body still reacting poorly as every movement felt like agony. She was suddenly very grateful that she hadn’t gotten hit by the spines while in normal form, because she wasn’t sure she’d be still alive if that were the case.  She turned her head to look at the, now damaged, tower at Arlong Park as her mind caught up with her. There was still a fight going on.

“Shit,” she cursed to herself, pushing through the pain to move forward. She slowly got running as she heard the sounds of conflict ahead of her. “I’m coming guys.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See I told you I'd get it here sooner. This was a lot of fun to write and I had to do more research on lion fish than I expected. Also nearly had a heart attack trying to remember if there already was a lion fish fishman.


	12. Always our Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew now faces Arlong himself. Winning may seem impossible, but it doesn't matter. They have no choice but to succeed. Captain's orders

The situation was bad. Zoro was wounded, Sanji was half drowned and neither Usopp, Luffy, nor Koni were anywhere to be seen. Meanwhile Arlong didn’t look so much as winded, standing tall before the two pirates. The villagers murmured worriedly as the fishman inspected his hand, which was dripping wet.

“Interesting, I thought you said you were strong,” he said grinning wickedly, “But all it takes is a bit of water and you fall just the same. SHAHAHAHA!” Sanji and Zoro grit their teeth, both desperately trying to come up with a plan against Arlong’s overwhelming power. Then a large red shape came screaming out of the hole in the opposite wall and slammed a club into the back of Arlong’s head, snapping his head downward. The shape slid to a halt in front of the two pirates, revealing itself to be a massive red Oni girl in a dress made of lizard skin.

The villagers almost panicked, while Zoro just smirked, “Glad you could join us, Koni,” an undertone of relief in his words.

“Koni?!” Sanji exclaimed, unable to contain his surprise.

“Hey guys, what I miss?” Koni said, her tone joking but her face serious.

“Luffy got tossed into the water with cement shoes, Usopp ran with a fishman on his heels, and Arlong is kicking our asses so we can’t get to Luffy to save him,” Zoro explained around the white sword in his mouth, while Arlong watched passively, as though they were no threat to him. Then Zoro noticed Koni trembling as she fought to stay upright, “Hey are you alright?” he said, eyeing the bloodstains on her chest.

“I’m fine,” she said, even as her breathing was ragged, “Apparently lion fish are venomous.”

“You’re the one who defeated Rey?” _that_ got a reaction from Arlong, his eyes going bloodshot. Koni realized that Rey was lying unconscious next to the gate, along with Hatchan laying in a small crater and a hole shaped like the grey fishman in the side of the pagoda.

“I can free Luffy,” Sanji said, gearing to run towards the water, “I just need some time.”

“I can probably buy you a minute, at most,” Zoro said, adjusting his grip on Johnny and Yosaku’s wide swords.

“Make it two,” Koni said, fixing her ponytail. Sanji looked like he wanted to argue against that but the look of determination in her eyes stopped him, so he simply nodded.

“Are you really going to discuss your plans in front of your enemy?!” Arlong demanded, raising his wet hand again. Both Sanji and Zoro tensed, Koni didn’t fully understand why but she did as well.

“ **Special Attack: Egg Star!** ” A small white object flew towards Arlong, which he casually raised his hand to block. The object smashed against it, revealing it to be an egg, as advertised. “Make it three!” The pirates turned to see Usopp standing in a hole in the wall not too far from the gate to the park. He was smiling triumphantly, even as he shook with fear, “Guys! I beat a fishman! All on my own!”

Sanji and Zoro smirked proudly at the sniper, while Koni grinned and made a thumbs up, “Good job, Usopp!” That meant every lieutenant had been taken down, leaving only the captain.

Usopp grinned back before his eyes snapped behind her and his expression became one of alarm, “Koni, watch out!” Koni turned back to Arlong just in time for a handful of water to hit her in the chest. With all the force of a cannon ball.

The hit carried the girl off her feet, the water ignoring the defenses presented by her devil fruit power and forcing her back down to normal form. She bounced, spun, and slammed back first into the wall, just next to the gate. The hit barely registered though, as Koni learned the hard way what Rey’s venom would do to her out of Oni form. Her nerves felt electrified, everything was blinding, white hot pain, even her skin brushing against her dress felt like a thousand burning needles. She couldn’t move, even as her muscles seized and convulsed. She vaguely heard Sanji shouting and Zoro shouting something back, but other than that she was unaware. She was dragged, causing even more pain, and she then felt something like a pinch on her shoulder.

Her vision began to refocus as Nami and some old man with a goatee, bandana and sunglasses stood over her.

“-brought the anti-venom, otherwise who knows what would have happened?” the man finished saying as Koni’s hearing started working again.

“H-hey Nami,” she said weakly, catching the older girl’s attention.

“Koni!” Nami got down and hugged her, which luckily hurt a lot less. As she was held up, Koni saw she had been moved behind the gate, with villagers surrounding them. Johnny and Yosaku looked relieved as well, but they seemed more focused on what was going on inside the Park itself, which Koni couldn’t see. “You had me worried sick! They told me you took on Rey yourself!” Nami shook her head, “What were you thinking? Even with how strong you are he could have killed you!”

“He called you a bad word,” Koni said, as though that explained everything. Nami was taken aback by the simplicity of the statement, while the younger girl just smiled. Then she tried to push herself up, “I have to get back and help Zoro.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Nami said, pushing her back with surprising ease, “You’re not moving until you’re completely un-poisoned.”

“But we need to buy Sanji some time!” she protested. Just as she said that, an object got flung from beyond the wall just outside of Arlong Park. It flew high in the sky, and… screamed as it went by?

“I’M BAAAAACK!”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that,” Nami almost whispered, a wide smile splitting her face as hope entered her tone for the first time since coming to this island. Or since first leaving it for that matter. All around the villagers cheered as Luffy started to adhere to gravity once more, and plummet towards the ground. Koni squirmed.

“At least let me watch! I wanna see Luffy kick Arlong’s butt!” she pleaded. Nami smiled and lifted the demon girl into a sitting position and turned toward the fight, just as Luffy’s arms stretched down and grabbed Zoro, who Arlong was holding by the throat, and flung him up into the sky.

“YOU MORON!” the villager’s joy was quickly replaced with disbelief and anger. Luffy paid them no mind as he approached Arlong at high speed.

“ **Gum Gum Bell!** ” Luffy flung his head back absurdly far, bringing it back down to slam into Arlong’s face with a sound like a gong, “ **Whip!** ” as he landed, he swept a kick into Arlong’s side, sending the fishman stumbling. The rubber man threw his fist back quite a way over the pool, “ **Gum Gum Pistol!** ” and brought it back with enough force to disturb the water under it, slamming it into Arlong’s chest. “ **Gatling!** ” Luffy then threw a barrage of punches so fast it looked like he grew extra fists, driving Arlong back hard enough that he broke through one of the walls of the tower.

Everyone stared in amazement, Luffy’s own crew included. Koni could barely process what had happened. She had assumed Luffy was strong, given that he was captain, but to watch him take down the guy who had taken her out of the fight with one hit and beat Zoro with hardly a scratch that fast? _Just who the heck are you, Monkey D Luffy?!_

“Is that all you’ve got?” Arlong asked, rising from the rubble with minimal effort.

“Not even a scratch?!” Johnny and Yosaku screamed, echoing everyone’s thoughts. Koni looked at Nami, expecting to see her worried, but only found her smiling softly, as if she felt everything would be okay in the end. So Koni looked at Luffy, who was stretching the normal people way for once, and decided to put all her faith in him too.

“Whoop his butt, Luffy!” she cheered. Luffy grinned, nodding, when Arlong suddenly tried to bite his head. Luffy actually grabbed his head and pulled it out of the way, in a move that made Koni start to realize that rubber powers can be gross. Arlong took even more chomps at him, until Luffy managed to get a swing in that shattered the fishman’s teeth.

Only for Arlong to spit them out like a set of dentures and grow new ones instantly. Which seemed completely unfair.

“I’m sawshark fishman, so I have new sets of teeth ready to replace any that I lose, each stronger than the last.” Arlong explained. Yeah, totally unfair. “ **Tooth Attack!”** He pulled a pair of his… teeth? Jaws? Whatever they were, he pulled two of them out of his head and held them in his hands, making to attack Luffy with even more teeth.

“That gives me an idea,” Luffy said, dodging the bites while throwing hits of his own. He got in a good body shot at the cost of getting one of the jaws stuck in his shoulder, but he smiled triumphantly as Arlong was pushed back. He pried the teeth out of his skin and fiddled with it, the crowd couldn’t see what he was doing as he was facing away from them but Arlong certainly could. And he looked really confused. “I di it!” Luffy tried to say as he whipped around, showing the crowd what he had done. He had the jaws over his own teeth, chomping them in an imitation of Arlong.

“GET SERIOUS!” crowd shouted angrily, Koni was dumbfounded, she really needed to talk to her crewmates after this, find out if this mid-crisis stupidity was normal. Then Arlong used the distraction to slip into the water behind the rubber man.

“Watch out, Luffy!” Nami shouted, “He’s much stronger in the water!” That seemed obvious given that Arlong was a fishman.

“ **Shark Dart!** ” But when he exploded out of the water like a bullet from a gun, Koni understood the need for a warning. He came out spinning, catching Luffy off guard enough to actually scrape him, tearing up his shirt and likely some of his body. The shark fishman hit the tower, doing more structural damage before lunging at Luffy again. Said rubber man actually used the teeth to some effect, biting Arlong’s arm deep enough to draw blood. The other captain kicked Luffy back, prizing his own teeth out of his arm, gross, and jumping back into the water.

“Get back here and fight me you coward!” Luffy challenged, yelling at the water. If Arlong heard him or was already planning to attack, it was impossible to tell.  
“ **Shark Dart!** ” Either way he came flying out of the water once more, speeding towards his target.

“ **Gum Gum Shield!** ” But it turned out that’s what Luffy was waiting for, grabbing his fingers on one hand and stretching them in front of him with the other. When Arlong hit the impromptu shield, his nose came about an inch from Luffy’s face, as the captain struggled against the fishman’s momentum. Then he flung his attacker over himself, landing him squarely in the second floor of the tower, creating yet another explosion of dust. The onlookers were not only shocked that he had taken the attack head on but had deflected it.

Luffy jumped up to face Arlong, only to dodge to the side as the fishman swung a giant… sword made of massive shark teeth?

“Kiribachi,” Nami mumbled, looking nervous. Koni could understand why, it looked absolutely vicious. Arlong swung it like a wild man, tearing up the shingles of the roof, forcing Luffy to jump out of the way, onto the next roof. Only for Arlong to follow him, somersaulting and making him look like the world’s most frightening buzz saw. Luffy continued up the pagoda, chunks of rock and shingles flying everywhere as it appeared that Arlong had officially stopped caring. Koni couldn’t see the look in his eyes but she was positive that it was murderous. Eventually Luffy ran out of tower to retreat up as Arlong surprised him with a punch and sent him into the top floor, following soon after.

And suddenly it was quiet. There no explosions, no yelling, no thunderous sounds of Luffy or Arlong’s strikes. The tension in the air was almost tangible, like a weight dangling on a string just a moment away from snapping. It was suffocating, like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the breaking point.

And then one of the walls exploded outwards, debris falling around… a desk? Nami gasped when she saw it, her shoulders shaking as she held her hands over her mouth. Before Koni could ask what was wrong, another wall exploded, and she caught the barest glimpse of Luffy’s extended leg through the barrage of falling papers. Again and again the walls burst outwards, as more and more papers and furniture joined the debris falling through the air. One of the papers drifted into Koni’s lap, which was lucky as Nami definitely wouldn’t have let her get up to grab one from the air, and Koni saw that it was a map. A very detailed map. And Nami looked ready to cry tears of joy because these maps were getting destroyed. It was around then that it clicked in the young log keeper’s head.

Luffy was destroying Nami’s room. Or more accurately, her cell.

Luffy’s sandal clad foot burst through the roof of the tower, rocketing skyward like a tan rubber flagpole. It came back down with terrifying force, enough that when it went back into the structure the whole tower began to collapse. Clouds of dust exploded from every floor as it began to crumble, sending the biggest dust cloud yet as it fell. As it cleared, all that was left of Arlong park was a pile of rubble and lumber.

“Arlong park… has fallen,” someone said, Koni didn’t dare look away to see who.

“That kid, is he alright?” someone else asked. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind, nothing as small as a building collapsing could stop someone like Luffy. She hadn’t even known him a month and that was already clear to her. Sure enough, out from the mountain of rubble burst the captain, his body hunched, and his clothes ruined, but he stood tall all the same. People murmured, he looked about ready to collapse himself, when his voice suddenly rang out.

“NAMI!” he shouted, his voice echoing out to what seemed the whole island, “YOU’LL ALWAYS BE MY FRIEND!”

The silence in the wake of his declaration was deafening. Koni glanced up at Nami to see tears starting to form in her eyes even as she had a small smile. The redhead navigator nodded, as if not trusting her voice. A wide smile spread across Koni’s face, just happy to see her friend happy.

“He won…” the mustachioed bandana man said in disbelief. Someone else nearby repeated the sentiment, and it picked up until everyone was mumbling “He won,” to themselves like it couldn’t possibly be real. Then all at once a great cry went up.

“HE WON!”

Koni laughed at the cheer, relief flooding her system. As all the tension left her body, the world started to tip sideways, and her eyes closed on their own. The exhaustion from the battle and subsequent venom induced seizure finally caught up with her, the strength she was using to hold herself up finally running out. Later she’d wake up in a clinic bed, bandaged and sore, and learn that Nami had carried her back herself. She’d laugh when she found out that none of the villagers had been able to lift her club to bring it back, Luffy being the only one strong and uninjured enough to complete the task. She’d rush outside as soon as the bandana doctor gave her the okay, excited to attend the first party she had ever experienced. But for now, she’d sleep.

Content that the idiot captain, the wayward swordsman, the cowardly sniper, the demon child log keeper, and the perverted cook had saved their thieving navigator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is screwing me up hard this time. So much of my schedule is taken up that by the time I get home I'm too tired to write. BUT I SHALL PRESS ON REGARDLESS. Also over 30 kudos thank you so much.


	13. Back out to sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Arlong finally done away with, life in Cocoyashi village can finally get back to normal. All that remains for the pirates is to celebrate their victory, and then move on to their next adventure.

“I said no!” Nami said sternly, her expression matching her tone.

Koni pouted, “But why not? You’re getting one!”

“To replace one I already had! Now you are _not_ getting a tattoo and that’s final!” Nami was laying down while Koni sat opposite her. They had been arguing like this for a few minutes, ever since the doctor had removed her tattoo of Arlong’s pirate mark and suggested she get a new one to cover up the scar.

It had been a day since the battle at Arlong Park, and the villagers hadn’t stopped partying yet. The doctor had cleared most of the crew on the first day, saying that Koni shouldn’t do anything too strenuous for a while as the venom had done a number on her. Zoro was _supposed_ to still be resting but he had left in search of booze as soon as his wounds were stitched. Nojiko had come with some of her and Nami’s old clothes for Koni to wear, so she finally had something other than her lizard dress to wear. That said, she was wearing shorts and a blue t-shirt with a cartoon dog head on it. And the sandals, because they didn’t have any leftover shoes and she had earned her current footwear by beating their previous owner.

“Look, just go out and enjoy the party, we can discuss this later,” Nami said exasperated, shooing the younger girl away. Koni pouted for a few more seconds before the doctor, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

“Why don’t you go make sure your green haired friend hasn’t done anything to make his condition worse,” he suggested, “I don’t want him ending up here again.”

“Alright,” Koni relented, slipping off her chair and heading towards the door, pausing before she left to stick her tongue out at Nami, which the older girl reciprocated. The doctor chuckled as she left, turning to get to work.

Koni wandered into Cocoyashi, taking in the music and laughter as the town celebrated its freedom from Arlong and his crew. The noise was almost overwhelming, she had never seen so many people in one place before, let alone a party like this. The other pirates seemed perfectly at home, however. Luffy was running around eating whatever he could, Sanji was having the time of his life being surrounded by cute girls, Usopp was standing on what looked to be a mountain of various furniture boasting about his victory over a fishman, and Zoro was sitting by the wayside, watching everyone while quietly drinking.

“Glad to see you’re actually doing what the doctor says,” she said as she went to sit down next him. He rolled his eyes as he took another swig.

“Well it _is_ a party, so I figured I’d take it easy this time,” he responded, “How’s Nami?”

“Getting a new tattoo,” Koni said, picking at the grass, “She won’t let me get one.”

“Of course not, you’re still a kid,” Zoro said, getting the girl to stick out her tongue in response. “Not helping your case. It’s the same reason we’re not letting you touch sake until you’re older.”

“W-well, I didn’t even want to drink anyway!” she said with a huff, crossing her arms and looking away, “I’m fine with just juice.”

“Suuure,” Zoro chuckled before looking back at the festivities. Koni followed his gaze to the table tower Usopp was singing his own praises on top of. No, seriously he was actually trying to lead the villagers in song.

“He’s having fun,” Koni remarked with a smirk. Usopp looked so proud of himself, bragging about he beat Chew with nothing but a small hammer, a bottle of alcohol, and a rubber band. She wasn’t sure if he was exaggerating or not but dang if he didn’t make it sound impressive.

“He’s been at it for hours, telling the same damn story over and over,” the swordsman said with another drink from his bottle. They sat in silence for a few moments, just enjoying the atmosphere before Zoro suddenly spoke, “Why aren’t you?”

“Huh?” Koni responded smartly, meeting Zoro’s expectant gaze.

“Why aren’t you telling stories?” he asked, gesturing to the party, “Isn’t that what you joined us to do?”

“Uh, well,” Koni stammered, fumbling for an excuse, “I wouldn’t want to just intrude on someone, it’d be kinda weird to just walk up and start telling a story, y’know?”

“Why? That’s basically what Usopp did,” Zoro pointed out. She didn’t really have a response for that. “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

Bullseye. _Dang it, why does Zoro have to smart_ now _?_ Koni didn’t look at him and continued picking at the grass.

He scanned the party before gesturing towards Nojiko, who was sitting talking to a couple of fellow villagers, “There, talk to them, start small.”

Her chest suddenly got tight, the nerves messing with her, “I-I seriously can’t just walk up and tell a story! Wouldn’t it be weird?”

“Well,” Zoro thought for a few seconds before continuing, “How did you and Rino tell stories to each other?”

Koni was caught off guard by the question, holding her chin while she thought about it, “Well I guess we just… asked if the other wanted to hear a story… and then told it.” Zoro sat silently, looking at her with that same expectant gaze, a smirk on his face. “You know now that I say it out loud, I feel kind of stupid.”

“It’s fine to be nervous, but you need to stop overthinking it. Just do what you’ve always done, and it’ll work out, trust me.” Zoro’s smirk turned reassuring as he pushed her back, urging her to stand. She did so, wringing her hands as she looked towards Nojiko’s group. She looked back at Zoro, the swordsman making a shooing motion once she did.

She took deep breath and started walking towards them, muttering, “Just walk up and ask, just walk up and ask.” She stopped in front of the group, “Hey!”

Nojiko turned to the girl with a smile, “Hey, Koni, right?” she nodded, “How are you enjoying the party?”

“It’s great! I haven’t seen so many people before,” Koni said, making the bluenette’s head tilt in confusion. The younger girl used the moment to take a deep breath, smile brightly and say, “Wanna hear how I kicked Rey’s butt?”

 

“And I came down as hard as I could, landing the final blow directly on Biggest Lizard’s head!” Koni recounted. What had started out as three people obliging a little girl by listening to her brag had become a much more substantial crowd, enraptured by her stories. Even some of the crew had stopped to listen, Luffy sitting still for once and Usopp coming down from the tower, Sanji had been one of the first to stop to listen. Once Koni had finished talking about her fight someone had asked to hear another story, and once she finished that they asked for another, and so on. “And now I am well and truly out of stories,” Koni admitted sheepishly, drawing a groan from the crowd. There weren’t many stories to be told yet however, she didn’t have many adventures on the island, and she hadn’t been a pirate for very long either.

The crowd began to disperse as they got back to partying, with Koni standing trying not smile too much at their reaction. She wasn’t happy that they were disappointed, but she _was_ happy that they had liked her stories enough to be disappointed that there weren’t more. She walked back to Zoro, happy as a clam as he smirked up at her.

“So, it went well?” he asked smugly.

“Yes, yes it did,” she responded, throwing his smug back at him, “They hung off my every word.” Her smile turned genuine, “Thanks, Zoro.” He waved her off, as if to say he’d done nothing, even while he smiled too. “Now, I’m gonna get something to eat before Luffy puts the island into famine.” She waved at him and trotted off, looking for one of the food tables. Zoro watched her go before returning to his people watching.

“She’s surprisingly eloquent for her age,” Nojiko came walking up and leaned against the house he sat next to. Zoro snorted.

“She’s smarter than most of the crew, and she was raised on a deserted island infested with monsters,” he went to take another drink, only to find his bottle empty, and dropped it to the side, “Her age is the least surprising thing about her.”

Nojiko’s eyebrows shot up as she turned to look at the girl, currently loading a plate full of cooked fish while Luffy gorged himself on meat nearby. She seemed so carefree but had apparently been through so much. And apparently, she fit right in with the rest of the pirates, as she held her foot in Luffy’s face as he tried to get at her plate of food. Nojiko turned to say something to Zoro, only to find that he had settled in for a nap.

“Nami’s certainly joined up with some interesting people,” she muttered to herself, not for the first time. She stood for a moment, watching the party for a while before joining back in.

 

“So, is she just late?” Koni asked. They were all waiting on the Merry, restocked and ready to go, along with several tangerine trees from Bellemere’s orchard in planted on top of the galley. How? She wasn’t entirely sure but was confidant someone else was. The villagers were standing on the shore, gathered to give Nami a proper send off. But they couldn’t exactly do that when the girl herself _hadn’t shown up yet._

“Maybe she changed her mind,” Zoro suggested, leaning against the railing.

“What?! What do you mean?!” Sanji yelled, panicked, then he rounded on Zoro, accusing, “Did you hit on her and drive her off?!”

 “Well she really doesn’t need to stay on anymore,” Usopp pointed out while Sanji and Zoro argued back and forth, “She already completed her goal, maybe she just wants to stay with her family.”

“If Nami isn’t coming then I lose about 49 percent of my reason for being here!” Sanji cried. Now that she thought of it, she still didn’t know why Sanji had joined the crew in the first place. Maybe she should ask at some point.

“She’ll be here,” Luffy said with absolute confidence. So, they would wait, until she finally decided to-

“SET SAIL!” they suddenly heard from the back of the crowd. Nami was standing behind all of them, empty handed as she suddenly charged forward.

Luffy grinned, “You heard her!” and he got to setting the sails, the others following soon after.

Nami wove through the crowd, dodging their attempts to stop her and ignoring their pleas to let them give her a proper send off. Zoro raised the anchor just as she blazed by Genzo.

“Are we sure we wanna let her leave like this?” Usopp said, hesitant even as he undid the ropes to loosen the sail.

“It’s her goodbye, let her do what she wants,” Luffy said as villagers began shouting. Koni wondered if she could have left her own island without saying goodbye to Rino and Chuckles. _Probably not_ , she thought as she turned the back sail.

“Nami!” Nojiko shouted, the last one on the dock as her sister approached. Nami made a running leap, flying through the air and onto the back railing of the Merry. She stepped lightly onto the deck, standing silent for a moment as she faced away from the villagers. Then she raised her shirt, earning a gasp from those on shore… before wallets and coin purses started raining from underneath, collecting in a pile that could only be described as insultingly large. Then surprised shouts began ringing out from the villagers.

“WHAT?!”

“My purse is gone!”

“My wallet too!”

“She stole my money!”

Nami took a 10000 Beri note out from one of the wallets and kissed it. “Thanks a bunch!” she cried with a cheeky grin.

“YOU BRAT!” Genzo shouted over the villager’s angry cries.

“Great, she hasn’t changed a bit,” Usopp said wearily.

“I’d watch my back,” Zoro grumbled, even as Luffy laughed from the lower deck and Sanji gave a thumbs up. Koni just looked confused. They were her friends, but she stole from them? Did she want to cut all ties now that she was a pirate? Even as she wondered that the villagers angry yelling turned to goodbyes and well wishes, so Cocoyashi let her leave with love for her in their hearts. Now Koni was just even more confused.

She picked up one of the bills on the ground and inspected it. Rino had given her a run down about money during one of his lessons. “So, this is a Beri, huh?” she said, her eyes scanning the paper, “I thought there’d be pictures of fruit on it.”

Nami chuckled as she plucked the bill from Koni, walking down the stairs to where all the supplies were still sitting on the deck. “Come on, let’s get this stowed away!”

“Aye!”

 

Koni didn’t even look up as Luffy was kicked violently past her and into Usopp as she sat writing in the logbook. She had missed a few days, so she had plenty to catch up on. Nami had, mercifully, recorded weather conditions and heading so Koni didn’t have to do that, but she apparently couldn’t bring herself to write anything more in Koni’s place. The demon girl had smiled softly when the redhead admitted that, proving that even then Nami had considered the job Koni’s.

“Come on, Sanji! Just one!” Luffy whined at the cook.

“No! This is Nami’s orchard, and you’re not going to lay a finger on it!” Sanji stood in front of the small tangerine grove with his arms crossed. Almost immediately after he finished his statement, he went Whiplash Noodle Mode and called to Nami, “Your security guard of love is on duty!”

“Mhmm, thank you Sanji,” Nami said, not looking up from her newspaper. Usopp was running around the deck, panicking about tabasco in his eyes as Koni snapped the logbook shut and stowed her quill.

“Finally finished,” she announced, standing up and looking towards the orchard. _Those tangerines_ do _look really tasty though…_ “Hey Nami, can I please have a tangerine?”

The navigator smiled at her and said, “Sure!” plucking one from a tree and tossing it to the girl.

“What?!” Luffy cried, outraged, “Why can she have one and I can’t?!”

“Because she asked politely,” Nami explained, unfazed by his whining. Koni stuck her tongue out at the now forlorn captain and bit into the citrus fruit like an apple, earning a laugh from Nami. “No, Koni, you’re supposed to peal-” Nami cut herself off as she saw Koni happily munching away like she wasn’t eating a tangerine, skin and all, “Wait, do you just eat the whole fruit?” Her statement earned funny looks from Zoro and Luffy, where as Usopp was doing something on the aft deck and Sanji was busy, y’know, swooning.

Koni nodded, too busy enjoying herself to notice the strange, vaguely disturbed expressions.

“Come to think of it, did you eat shellfish the same way?” Zoro asked, trying to remember their meals at the Baratie.

“Yeah, the crab shells kept getting stuck in my teeth,” Koni answered with another nod. It was then that she noticed her crewmates grimacing, minus Luffy who was just blinking in confusion, “Why? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing at all!” Nami said, her voice an octave higher than normal. Zoro opened his mouth to answer before she gave him a glare. He seemed to get the message and just nodded along with her. Luffy just laughed at her strangeness, contributing to the crew’s already rampant oddity.

Usopp flopped on the deck, rubbing his eyes as Nami sat in a lounge chair, still reading her newspaper. She clicked her tongue as she read, a frown appearing on her face.

“The world’s in such chaos right now,” she said as she turned pages.

“Can I see?” Koni said, somewhat desperate for new reading material. The navigator smiled and angled the paper so the younger girl could read over her shoulder. As she shifted it though, a paper slipped out and fluttered to the deck, drawing the attention of the crew.

**Wanted**

**Dead or Alive**

**Monkey D “Straw Hat” Luffy**

**30,000,000**

And then everyone started yelling. Luffy, Usopp and Sanji in excitement, Nami in shock, and Koni in confusion as to why everyone was yelling. Luffy snatched up the paper, which had a big picture of his smiling face dominating it, and held it up, grinning like a fool.

“Check it out, we’re wanted!” he laughed. Nami hung back as the rest of the crew crowded around the poster.

“Dead or alive… 30,000,000?!” Usopp said, shocked by the amount. Luffy just kept laughing excitedly.

“Does that mean we’re officially pirates now?” Koni asked, a combination of nervous and excited.

… _Nervoucited._

“Hey look, I’m in this picture!” Usopp suddenly said with a grin, “That means I’m famous now!”

“What?! Where, I don’t see!” Sanji said, before Usopp pointed to where he could be seen, facing away from the camera in the corner, “It’s the back of your head, that doesn’t count!”

“Hey don’t be jealous,” Usopp said smugly. Koni rolled her eyes as she kept reading the charges at the bottom. Apparently, they had taken on a Marine captain and a clown pirate before she met them?!

“Alright! We’re going to the Grand Line!” Luffy declared, earning a cheer from the three.

“Guys! Do you understand how serious this is?!” Nami said, her words falling on deaf ears as they continued celebrating, “Don’t you see this means people are after our heads?! We won’t be able to just lounge around in the East Blue for much longer.”

Still the pirates celebrated, not a care in the world. After all the Marines and bounty hunters were going to come after them eventually anyway, this just made it official. What was there to worry about?

 

A Marine stood on the deck of her ship, rifling through recent bounties as her crew worked around her. Her cap was pulled low over her long brown hair, shadowing her eyes as she looked through the Berri increases, new faces, and recently captured pirates. One caught her eye, a wide grin staring up at her from the poster.

“Huh, how odd,” she said as she read the details of this new face.

“Something wrong, Captain Corona?” her first officer asked.

“An unusually high bounty out of East Blue,” Corona answered, showing him the page, “30,000,000 on one Straw Hat Luffy.”

The officer gave a low whistle, “Impressive for a first bounty, who’d he piss off?”

The captain snorted, “No idea, but I can tell you this much,” her piercing green eyes scanned the young pirate’s face, “I’ll be watching with great interest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHOHOHO Who is this? Lotsa people are gonna be gunnin for our favorite pirates now, so things are gonna start getting interesting.


	14. A Day in Loguetown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The town of the beginning and the end is chock full of interesting things. Shopping, tourist attractions, Marines, pirates, secrets. Oh and a bookstore.

“Loguetown?” Luffy asked. It was the name of the place they were approaching, the last stop before the Grand Line.

“I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it Luffy,” Nami said, raising an eyebrow at his ignorance, “It’s the town where Gold Roger was both born and executed.”

“Wha- Really?!” stars shone in the captain’s eyes as he finally understood the island’s significance, “COOL!”

Koni was excited too, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for the island to peek over the horizon. It would be the first time she had seen a real port town. She didn’t know what to expect, Rino had only been once himself and he had only really seen the Marine base, so she was excited to find out what it was like!

“Alright everybody, listen up!” Nami suddenly addressed the whole crew, “We need to decide what we’ll all be doing in port. I need to set our budget.”

“I’ll be getting supplies and food naturally, sweet Nami!” Sanji swooned. _Well obviously, he’s the cook._

“I wanna see the execution stand where Gold Roger was!” Luffy exclaimed. _That sounds kinda morbid._

“I need to get new swords,” Zoro said, gesturing to his only remaining katana, “But I don’t have any cash to do that.”

“I can lend you enough for that, at an interest,” Nami offered sweetly. A little too sweetly for the swordsman apparently, as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“I’m going to get some new tools and toys for my ammunition,” Usopp said, earning a look from Koni. Did he fight with toys? She understood that he used a slingshot but what was he planning to do with-

Her thoughts were cut off when she realized Nami was looking at her with an expectant look on her face, “Uh…” She hesitated, not being able to think of anything she needed to get.

Luckily Nami took pity on her, “It’s fine if you don’t have anything in mind,” the navigator smiled, “I was actually planning on bringing you shopping with me.”

Koni perked up at that, “Really?”

“I figured since you’ve never been in a city that big you wouldn’t know what to do with yourself, right?” Dang, she hit the nail right on the head. “We’ll need to get you some new clothes, because you probably don’t want to wear my hand-me-downs forever.” That was true, as nice as it was getting free clothes Koni kinda wanted some style to call her own. “Plus, we need to get you extra supplies, ink, quills, spare journals and the like, so we’ll be stopping at a bookstore.”

“Bookstore?!” Koni nearly shouted in excitement, “We get to go to a bookstore?!” Her crewmates looked on in amused surprise as the young demon girl was almost vibrating with enthusiasm.

“Yes,” Nami said with a smirk, “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure we have enough money for some books for you to read.”

“Yes!” Koni cheered, practically dancing on the spot. She was going to get books! And new clothes! And _BOOKS!_ Best day ever!

 

As the ship approached the harbor, Koni couldn’t help but bounce on her feet as she watched it get closer. It was definitely the biggest town she had ever seen. All the buildings were brick, not like the wooden ones in Cocoyashi. And they were much taller, like most were double the size of any of the houses. The town took up most of the island, the only exceptions being the foot hills just outside of it. She could also see more people than she ever imagined previously, and she had thought there were a lot in Cocoyashi! What really drew her eyes, however, was the Marine base that dominated half of the island. If it was any indication of the Navy presence on the island, then they were probably in trouble if word had gotten to them about Luffy’s bounty. Hopefully not though.

As they finally made it to port, Nami divvied up the crew’s allowances, and they all agreed to meet back at the ship once they were all done. Sanji and Usopp went towards the market for their shopping, Luffy wandered off to try and find the execution stand, and Zoro went to find a blacksmith. And promptly walked straight towards the Marine base.

“Should we try and stop him or something?” Koni asked as they watched the swordsman walk away.

“Nah, he’ll be fine. Besides,” the older girl grinned, “We have our own day ahead of us.”

“Right!” the younger beamed, “Let’s get shopping!”

They went to a clothing store first, which was kinda fun, Koni guessed. It was nice to try on new clothes, even if they weren’t going to buy all of them. Koni quickly decided that as much as she liked wearing dresses, shirts and shorts were much easier to move in. She was totally going to get a dress or two anyway though. She wanted to see how everything would look in her Full Oni form, but Nami convinced her to hold off on that, stating it would probably freak people out.

Koni was trying on some sneakers, trying to get used to the feel of real shoes, Nami watching her, when an employee of the store walked by with a smile. “It’s nice of you to take your little sister out like this,” she said.

“Uh, yeah, we decided just to have a day out,” Nami answered, rolling with the girl’s assumption. Not realizing that Koni had heard every word. A contemplative look crossed her face.

They ended up buying not only a bunch of new outfits, but also some things they might need on the Grand Line, like winter coats, a rain jacket and… a swimsuit?

“Why do I need one? I can’t even swim,” Koni said as she twisted around in front of one of the mirrors.

“Because relaxing on the beach is much more comfortable in a swimsuit,” Nami explained, watching nearby, “Now come on and pick one.”

By the time they left, Koni was walking out with more clothes than she thought she’d be able to wear, Nami having haggled a lower price from the store clerk, and in a brand-new outfit. It was a black tank top with a lime green lizard on the front, something Koni had insisted she needed, along with a pair of dark blue shorts and dark grey and blue sneakers. She wasn’t completely accustomed having her foot completely encased in something, but she would get used to it. Again, she was just worried what would happen if she went Full Oni while wearing them.

Just as they were leaving though, something caught Koni’s eye. There was a rack of messenger bags, one of which was beige with animal designs on it. Specifically, a rhino and a large blue bird surrounded by tropical flowers.

“Koni?” she snapped out of her reverie, turning towards Nami, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow, “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah!” she stuttered out, “Just thinking about where we’re gonna put all this.”

“You let me worry about that,” Nami said with a smirk, before looking thoughtful for a moment. She pulled out some of the Beris she had brought along and handed a couple to Koni, “Tell you what, I’ve got some other stuff I need to buy. There’s a bookstore a few shops down from here. Why don’t you go and buy some extra journals and stuff? Any money left over you can spend on any books you want.”

Nami had barely finished talking when Koni took off down the street, grinning like a madwoman. Nami shook her head with a bemused smile before turning back to the storefront. Once she got to the bookstore, appropriately called Loguetown Books, the demon girl took a moment to collect herself, so as not to rip the door from its hinges. She entered the store to a merrily jangling bell. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room to see exactly what she had wanted to see. Shelves upon shelves of books, volumes, and tomes of various sizes filled the store.

“Wow…” Koni said in awe, her eyes full of wonder as she walked forward slowly. She didn’t even know where to start. There were too many choices, which in her mind wasn’t a bad problem to have, but it was still a problem.

“Oh, hello!” came a deep voice from the side. Koni started, whipping around to face who had spoken. It turned out to be a man standing next to the register. He was tall, easily dwarfing any of the crew, and slightly chubby. He had dirty blonde hair cut short, and a goatee to match. His face was round and his expression jolly, like he had just remembered a really good joke. He was wearing a button-down shirt and suspenders and was resting his chin on one of his massive hands, leaning on the counter. “Don’t get many customers your age,” he continued, his voice rumbling, “Name’s Pope. How can I help ya?”

“Um,” Koni hesitated. Pope was even taller than her Full Oni form, but despite how intimidating that should have been, he seemed to give off an air of ease and friendliness. “Do you have any blank journals and writing stuff?”

“Sure,” he replied, jabbing a thumb towards a shelf to his write. There were various journals, some made specifically for sea travel, being water and tear resistant, along with writing tools. As she went to pick out a few, he spoke again, “Doing errands for someone?”

“Nope,” she said, pulling down one of the thicker volumes before replacing it and taking a more medium sized one, “They’re for me. I’m a log keeper.”

Pope’s eyebrows shot up, though the rest of his expression remained placid, “That’s… an awfully big responsibility for someone so young.” Koni nodded while taking down a few ink bottles. “How old are you anyway?”

“Thirteen,” she answered as she dropped the load in her arms onto the counter.

“Huh,” he didn’t really have a response to that, so he just priced her items. Once it was done, she realized she wasn’t going to have much for books. She considered putting back one of the journals but decided that her duties to the crew superseded her own wants.

That said, she still turned towards the rest of the store with a look of excitement comparable to Luffy discovering an unattended banquet. Pope raised an eyebrow at her as she scoured the shelves ravenously, surprised at her excitement. Koni found herself falling in love with the books, as weird as that sounded. The mustiness and aged quality of old books to the crisp and clean feeling of newer volumes. The excitement of finding so many possible stories to discover began to override her brain. Thoughts of budgeting her remaining Beris flew out of her mind as she grabbed as many books as her normal form could carry.

Depositing her selections on the counter with a _thud_ , she realized her mistake, seeing as her new stack was more than double the size of the pile of writing materials. Pope finally raised his chin from his palm as he inspected her choices.

“ _The Legend of the Valkyrie_ , lots of magic, daring rescues, heroic actions, solid pick,” he said, nodding in approval before moving on from the decently sized volume to a slightly smaller black book, “ _Monsters from the Deep Dark_? A book of horror stories?” he looked up at her questioningly, to which she nodded with an eager smile, making him shrug in acquiescence. He picked up her next selection, a thick grey volume, “ _Ancient Legends and Curious Tales_ , pretty advanced stuff, it’s practically a history book. You sure with this one?” again she nodded, earning a chuckle as Pope moved to the next one, a small light blue book, “ _Shells on the Beach_? This is more what I was expecting, a proper bedtime story.”

“It looked like a cute story,” Koni shrugged, earning a guffaw from the man. He put it down and moved onto the final book, a thin red novel.

“ _The Marine and her Pirate_? A romance?” Pope looked up incredulously, the small girl looking away and twiddling her thumbs shyly. He shook his head in near disbelief before putting it back down on the pile and casting an eye over it, “Not a bad selection, good variety, plenty of re-readability considering you’ll be at sea. No mystery though?”

“I considered it, but once you get to the reveal you can’t really go through it again.”

Pope nodded sagely before sighing, “Hate to break it to you kid but I’m pretty sure you haven’t got the cash for all of this.” Koni’s shoulders slumped, she had assumed that but hadn’t wanted to give up any of the books that had caught her eye. Pope watched her dejected expression and scratched his beard in thought. After a moment he said, “Tell you what, you pay for all of the novels you picked out, and I’ll throw in the journals for free.”

_That_ caught her attention. “Really?!” she said excitedly, the offer seeming too good to be true.

Pope smiled gently, “I haven’t seen a kid like you look at books with that much excitement in a long, _long_ time. I get good enough business, so what’s a few journals?” his smile turned mischievous, “‘Specially to help out an up and coming pirate.”

Koni gasped, suddenly nervous as she dropped her voice to a whisper, “How did you know?”

“No Marine or civilian vessel is gonna let a teenager keep their log,” he reasoned, leaning his chin on his palm once more, “And just the way you hold yourself tells me you haven’t lied since you walked in here. It was just simple logic.” So Koni was found out by the owner of a random bookstore in a town with a massive Marine base who used simple logic to ascertain her criminal status. _Maybe I should keep my mouth shut._

“So, uh…”

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” Pope assured, surprising the girl, “I’m not about to rat out such a good customer.”

Koni handed him the money for the books, looking sheepish, “I’m not actually a good one though. My crew and I are headed to the Grand Line.”

He shook his head, “Not what I meant. I’m just glad these books are going to someone who’ll appreciate them.”

He loaded the books into a large paper bag, which Koni took with little difficulty and gave him a wave as she walked out, “Thanks again, Mr. Pope!”

“Not a problem, uh…”

“Koni,” she supplied with a smile.

“Koni,” he repeated, returning the smile, “I’ll keep an eye out for that name. Don’t let those pirates make you do anything dangerous, alright?”

“I’ll be fine,” with one final wave goodbye, she left the store to jingle of the same bell, feeling very much satisfied with her purchase. The moment she did, the smile dropped off of Pope’s face.

“A kid like that becoming a pirate?” he shook his head as the bookshop’s atmosphere became quiet once more, “What is the world coming to?”

 

Koni sat on a short wall between some of the buildings, eager to crack open one of her newly acquired books as she waited for Nami. Before she could decide however…

“Hey, little girl, are you with someone?” said a man who was suddenly in front of her. She nearly started coughing at the smell he was giving off. It was like how Sanji smelled, only much more intense and undiluted by the smells of food and spices that also surrounded the chef. He had gunmetal grey hair, a severe face and expression, and two fat brown smoking stick held between his teeth. He had a white jacket with a fur collar and more of those brown sticks lined up on it. There was also a funny looking metal pole on his back, but that didn’t seem as important.

“I-I’m just waiting for someone,” she stuttered out. This man was the exact opposite of Pope, where as he was rotund and lax, this man was solid muscle and nothing but intimidating.

“Just making sure,” he said, crossing his arms, “Can’t have kids getting lost.”

“I’m thirteen!” she protested defensively. He raised his arms in a placating gesture.

“Alright, alright, I was just asking,” he turned to walk away. As he did however, Koni finally saw the back of his jacket. And the kanji for ‘Justice’ displayed on it.

He was a Marine.

Koni hesitated for a moment, unsure if she wanted to risk discovery by a Marine, but she had a question she wanted to ask. “Um, Mr. Marine?”

“Smoker,” he said turning around.

“Mr. Smoker,” she corrected, “Did you know a Marine captain named Rino?”

“Samson Rino?” he asked with an eyebrow raised, “Of course I’ve heard of him.”

“Really?” His full name was Samson Rino? Koni filed that information away for later.

“He wasn’t a Captain though. Before his retirement, he had been a Vice Admiral,” Smoker told her. Why had Rino lied about his rank? It seemed like such a small thing to hide.

“Do you know anything about him?” she asked, eager to learn all she could about her… father? Mentor? She would have to figure out her exact relationship with him later.

Smoker rubbed his chin, “Well, the man was infamous, he’s one of a very small group to get to that rank without a devil fruit, not only that but he had made it a point to explore as many places as he possibly could.” The marine shook his head, “Supposedly his crew would get exhausted and ask to transfer out within months of joining him.”

“So, he was an explorer then?” It made sense with how jam packed his log book was.

Smoker shrugged, “I always heard some of the higher ups say that if he didn’t take down pirates for a living, he’d be a pirate himself. He just did what he pleased once he got a high enough rank to have his own ship,” the grey-haired Marine’s eyes narrowed, “Why do you wanna know about him so bad? He disappeared a long time ago.”

Koni suddenly regretted asking. “He, uh,” what was she supposed to say? That they had washed up on the same random desert island together? With Smoker staring at her expectantly, she just blurted out the first answer that she could think of, “He was my father.” Okay, maybe she had decided on their relationship already.

Smoker’s face betrayed surprise, the first blatant emotion he had shown during the whole conversation, “He was your… father? But he wasn’t even married.”

“Adopted father,” she clarified, just sort of saying whatever came to mind that made sense.

“Ah,” he seemed to accept that answer, “What happened to him? No one has heard from him in seven years.” Koni didn’t say anything, instead opting to look down at the ground. Smoker quickly understood, “I see. I’m sorry.” The silence pervaded for a while, “How long has it been?”

“Two years,” she answered shortly.

“How did he go out?”

“With a smile.”

Smoker nodded, “That’s good. At least he was happy, I suppose.” There was another long stretch of silence, until Smoker apparently decided he had had enough and began to walk away.

“Thank you, Mr. Smoker,” she called after him, earning a wave over his shoulder as he walked away gallantly. So, Smoker marked one tally in the ‘Good Marines’ column. He seemed gruff but was actually pretty nice. He had answered her questions, even if he could have just brushed her off. And apparently Rino had been ravenous for adventure, so much so that other people hadn’t been able to keep up. That sounded about right, if she had to pick one word to describe him, it would be ‘Relentless.’

“Hello? Earth to Koni?” Koni was startled out of her thoughts for the third time that day, this time by Nami’s voice. This was beginning to become a habit, and she wasn’t sure that was a good thing. Anyway, said redhead was standing next her, a multitude of shopping bags hanging off her arms.

“Oh, hey Nami!” Koni shook off her surprise and greeted her crewmate, “Got everything done?”

“Yep,” she answered, holding up one of her arms, “How about you?”

“I got the supplies, yeah,” she grinned, “The guy in the shop didn’t even charge me for them, just for the books!”

“Just some light reading, right?” Nami said jokingly, eyeing the textbook of legends.

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” she said with an amused smile, “I actually have something for you. I figured if something happened to the Merry, or we’re away from the ship for a while, you’d want to keep the log book on you so,” she pulled something out of one of the bags. It was the messenger bag that she had been looking at before. Nami had noticed. Koni’s fingers traced the design of the familiar animals, and she realized that, other than Rino’s journal, this was the first gift she had ever received.

As the two began to haul their various purchases back to the ship, Koni with her new bag slung over her shoulder with several books weighing it down, she was so over the moon she didn’t even notice the sky begin to darken.

What a wonderful day it had been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well wasn't that just vomit-inducingly wholesome. I spent more time on this than I probably should have, and It might be a bit too long, but what do I care. It was nice.


	15. Onward, to the Grand Line!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm is rising in Loguetown, both figuratively and literally. With Marines, pirates, clowns, and the very sky out to get them, our favorite crew couldn't ask for a better way to start of their grand journey.

Luffy was in trouble. Serious trouble. The crew had met up just as sky began to fill with clouds, all ready to head out when a crowd of scared civilians ran by them. According to some panicked passerby, a bunch of pirates had taken over the execution stand plaza and were going to execute some kid in a straw hat. And unless there was another straw hat wearing young man with a penchant for pissing people off visiting Loguetown, it meant Luffy.

So now Zoro, Sanji, and Koni were sprinting towards the plaza while Usopp and Nami hauled all of the crew’s supplies and what was quite possibly the _biggest_ tuna Koni had ever seen back to the ship.

“You sure you’ll be good without your club?” Zoro asked as they continued running, one hand on his new swords. She got an odd feeling from them for some reason but shrugged it off as not important at the moment.

“I can manage, Rino taught me how to fight without one,” Koni was in her Half Oni form just to keep up with the two powerhouses, “Besides, I handled most of the fight with Rey unarmed.”

“Let’s hope this fight won’t end the way that one did,” Zoro remarked.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to Koni,” Sanji declared, gritting his teeth as they approached the plaza.

“ **I WILL BE KING OF THE PIRATES!** ” they all heard Luffy shout.

‘Well at least we know he’s definitely here,” Koni tried to joke. Once they got into the plaza, they found their path blocked by a crowd surrounding the execution stand. Zoro and Sanji quickly began to push through, while Koni made use of her devil fruit and just jumped. She managed to land on someone’s head, jumping off with a hurried apology as she made her way to the group of pirates at the center. She could see Luffy and someone dressed like a clown at the top of the wooden tower, so she was guessing that was that Buggy guy she had read about in the log.

The pirates on the ground were all dressed like various circus performers, including a man with a unicycle, a man with a bunny helmet of some kind and a _lion._ Standing out from the crowd, oddly enough, looked to be a very pretty woman in a long purple coat and a big white hat. Holding a very large metal club.

_Well, that simplifies things,_ Koni thought. Making one last jump, the young pirate came down on the woman with a cry of, “Let Luffy go!” and made to clock her straight in the face. Only to be surprised by her fist glancing off the woman’s skin, causing the girl to flub her landing and hit the ground in a sprawl.

“It’s rude to attack someone out of the blue, you know,” the woman said, bringing the club down on Koni. The girl just barely dodged to the side as the strike shattered the stone beneath them. “Wait,” the woman finally took in the younger’s appearance, “Are you a demon?!”

“I ate the Oni Oni Fruit,” Koni explained shortly, still trying to work out how to get the woman’s club away from her, “Why did my punch miss?”

The woman turned extremely smug, “I ate the Slip Slip Fruit, which in addition to making attacks simply slip right off my body,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder, “It accentuated my already natural beauty.” Koni’s expression was unimpressed, _Vain much?_ It was around then that Sanji and Zoro got through the crowd, taking on the pirates to get to Luffy.

Many voices rose from the crowd, “LADY ALVIDA IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD!” Alvida ate up the praise, pretending to act coy to garner more compliments from her ‘fans.’ The woman’s narcissism made an idea sprang into Koni’s head. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but she needed to help Luffy fast, and the club would certainly help, so she decided to just go for it.

“Meh, she’s alright I guess,” Koni shrugged, drawing a gasp from the crowd. Alvida herself started giving off waves of malice as her expression darkened.

“ _What_?” she said through grit teeth.

“I mean, you’re pretty, sure,” Koni fished her memory for a certain name that Rino had told her, someone he had said possessed a beauty unmatched, all the while keeping up her nonchalant tone, “But most beautiful in the world? I mean come on,” she smirked as she remembered the name, “Boa Hancock exists. Compared to her you’re nothing but an ugly hag!”

That did it. While the demon girl had been speaking, Alvida’s expression got progressively angrier and angrier, but that last comment had pushed her over the edge. “ **YOU DAMN BRAT!** ” she screeched, swinging her club in an overhead swing. Koni grinned as she did, shifting into Full Oni form and catching the weapon with both hands. Alvida was stunned into silence by the action, her admirers looking similarly gob smacked.

Rino had taught her something about anger. It could either be a useful tool, giving you a boost of strength, letting you give that one last push, or focusing you towards a goal, or it could be your worst enemy, making you stupid, getting friends hurt, or making you play right into your opponent’s hand. Like getting you riled up so they can grab your weapon because they can’t grab you.

“Hey, ‘Lady Alvida’,” Koni taunted, swinging the club by its head, taking Alvida with it as she was still gripping the handle, “Think you can slip past the ground?!” She then proceeded to slam the woman into the pavement, cracking the stone as she did. _Maybe not my best line_ , she thought to herself as Alvida’s grip on the club slackened, _I need to work on my witty banter._

Flipping the club to catch it by the handle and turning away from the now unconscious woman, she now faced a group of circus pirates, all shocked how easily she had defeated another devil fruit user. She had had a gut feeling about the ground slam trick, and it hadn’t been hard to figure out how much stock Alvida put in her ego. Putting those thoughts aside, she rushed at the pirates, dropping back to Half Oni and letting the momentum of the club carry her into group.

“ **Oni Meteor!** ” She twisted in the air, bringing her borrowed weapon down to smash the ground beneath them, the shockwave knocking a good few of them off their feet, the most immediate poor souls being blown back by the force. Koni got her feet back under her as she eyed the weapon, seeing a small crack in the side she had hit the ground with. _It’s actually lighter and_ weaker _than my club_ , she thought as she knocked another pirate flying, _Just what the hell_ is _Ironsap wood?_

“Zoro! Sanji! Koni!” they suddenly heard Luffy cry out, giving pause to the fighting, “Nami! Usopp!” Looking up, the three crewmates could see Buggy raising a sword above his head, the rubber captain’s broad, stupid grin on prominent display as he declared, “Sorry, I’m dead.”

“What the heck is he saying?!” Koni questioned aloud, striking a pirate in the gut and sending him into a group of his friends that were making to attack Zoro. Just as she was going to rush towards the tower however-

**_CRACK_ **

A massive bolt of lightning split the sky, striking the execution stand and turning it into a burning, twisted wreck. Koni froze, memories of Rino’s death flooding her mind as rain began to pour down. A straw hat drifted to the ground before the flames, making the crew members’ hearts clench in worry until they saw a hand reach down and pick it up.

Plopping his signature headwear back where it belonged, Luffy grinned once more, “Hey, I’m alive! That’s nice!”

“Luffy!” Koni cheered, halfway between wanting to hug her captain or clobber him. But with him free now it was just a simple matter of making a beeline to the Merry and getting the heck out of there. But as Koni was starting to learn, ‘simple’ did not mean ‘easy.’

 

And lo and behold, it wasn’t that easy. Just when they left behind the group of circus freaks and their screaming clown ring leader, Smoker started chasing them down while leaving his men to deal with the other pirates. And apparently his name was way more appropriate than Koni was prepared to deal with.

“He has a Logia?!” she cried in panic as he flew behind them as the lower half of his body had become a cloud of smoke, slowly catching up, “How are we supposed to fight someone we can’t even hit?!”

“What do you mean we can’t hit him?!” Zoro shouted back, not quite as panicked but running no less.

“Well,” Koni reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of glasses, putting them on and raising a finger like a teacher giving a lecture, even while running, “He likely ate a Logia type Devil Fruit, a type which allows the user to transform into an element like fire, ice, or in this case smoke! And unless one of those new swords of yours can cut smoke, we’re basically out of luck!”

“Shit,” Zoro cursed before realizing something, “Hey where did you get those glasses anyway?”

“Found ‘em!” she answered honestly as she removed them. She’d found them on the ground in the market earlier and picked them up, figuring she’d find their owner later. Whoever that was really needed them, because given how much they were messing up Koni’s eyes they were most likely a pretty severe prescription.

“Ah~, Koni looks so cute in glasses!” Sanji swooned.

“NOT NOW!” Koni and Zoro shouted at the cook. Then Luffy suddenly stopped and turned to face Smoker.

“Luffy?!” they shouted as one. The captain simply grinned over his shoulder.

“You guys get to the ship, I’ll catch up!”

“Are you really that stupid?!” Sanji shouted angrily.

“Didn’t you hear a word I said?!” Koni questioned, “You can’t hit him! Even if you could we almost just lost you anyway-”

“Go,” Luffy’s tone was strangely both serious and confidant, and left no room for argument. The crew stood, looking between him and the rapidly approaching Marine, before Zoro took charge.

“We need to move. Come on!”

“You’d better catch up!” Koni warned, earning a thumbs up from the straw hatted boy. They took off through the storm swept streets, moving towards the docks and trying very hard to make sure Zoro didn’t make a sudden wrong turn. Which contributed to their next obstacle.

“Roronoa Zoro!” A woman with blue hair and a sword blocked their path, “I won’t let you leave with the Wado Ichimonji! It deserves better than a good for nothing pirate!”

“The Wado what?” Koni asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“My white sword,” Zoro answered, not taking his eyes off of the woman, “And I told you, it was a gift from my friend!”

“Liar! You’ve left me no choice,” she drew her sword and pointed it… a few feet to the side of the pirates.

“Uh… we’re over here,” Koni pointed out as the most of those present ignored Sanji’s WNM.

“Oh!” she turned more toward them, “Here?”

“A little better,” the young pirate said with a confused expression.

“Weren’t you wearing glasses before?” Zoro suddenly asked.

She looked very embarrassed suddenly, “I did, but I lost them in the market earlier,” she shook her head to clear it, “But I don’t need them to beat you!”

Zoro looked at Koni with an eyebrow raised, “You don’t think…”

It took a second for her to get what he was saying, but once she did, she reached into her bag to pull out the glasses once more. “Uh, are these them?” she approached the swordswoman, offering the red framed spectacles.

“Oh!” she said, taking them gingerly and placing them back on, blinking a few times to get used to her newly corrected vision. Then she smiled at Koni, “Thank you!” she blinked a few more times, “Um, are you a-”

“Demon, yes,” Koni wanted to sigh, this routine was getting to be a bit bothersome, but settled for smiling and offering her hand instead, “I’m Koni!”

“Tashigi,” the woman said, taking the hand and shaking it.

“Isn’t it sweet how Koni can get along with anyone?” Sanji swooned (she really needed another word for that) drawing attention to himself.

“Uh, are you guys forgetting something?” Zoro asked, looking between everyone. Tashigi and Koni blinked a few times before suddenly remembering why the confrontation had started.

“R-right!” Tashigi’s sword rose once more, this time actually pointing towards its target, “You won’t take another step!”

“For the last time, I’m not giving up this sword!” Zoro drew his two new blades, before suddenly having to block an all too familiar black leg from the side.

“Is attacking women part of the code of a swordsman?!” Sanji was hostile once more, digging his foot against Zoro’s swords.

“Seriously?!” Zoro responded, looking somewhere between exasperated and enraged.

Koni facepalmed, muttering, “This whole day has just been a mess.” The tip of Tashigi’s sword lowered slightly, as the swordswoman wasn’t entirely sure what to do.

Then, as if to save them from any more embarrassment, a gust of wind blew past them. Well, less of a gust of wind and more like a sudden localized hurricane that took them off their feet. They were tossed like empty bags down the street, rolling and tumbling and generally having a bad time. By the time it stopped the pirates had smacked into enough crates and overturned carts to start a decent delivery business, so they came to rest in a pile of debris.

“Ow…” Koni groaned as she rose from the broken wood, not happy with the very dizzy reminder of one of the events on Nami’s home island, “You guys okay? Nobody got stabbed, right?”

“I’m good,” Zoro stated, standing and sheathing his swords, “What the heck was that?”

“I’m fine, Koni my dear!” Sanji exclaimed, bursting from the pile.

Koni fought the urge to roll her eyes, “That’s great, Sanji,” drawing another delighted noise from the cook. She looked around, not seeing their pursuing swordswoman anywhere nearby, but luckily there was someone else much better in sight. “Usopp!” sure enough, the sniper was at the edge of the pier, looking distressed for some reason.

At the sound of her voice, he whipped towards them, relief flooding his features, “You guys are okay!” he did a quick head count as they ran up to him, “Wait, where’s Luffy?!”

Before they could explain, the aforementioned rubber captain dropped from a nearby building, hitting the wet pavement with a splash. “Right here!” he said, earning relieved smiles from the crew, “Finally got away from Smokey!”

“That’s great!” Usopp said before worry returned to his expression, “But we have a problem!” They didn’t even have a chance to ask him what he meant before the answer presented itself.

“Luffy!” Nami’s voice rang out over the water, cutting through the raging storm. They turned to look over the waves, seeing the Going Merry drifting away from the island.

“Whatever that huge gust of wind was, it blew the Merry away from the dock,” Usopp quickly explained.

“We’d better get moving before it drifts too far!” Sanji said. Koni didn’t know if she could make the jump, even without trying to carry anyone with her, so she started to run alongside the rest of the crew towards the outer planks of the dock.

“Right!” they suddenly heard from behind them. Turning, they saw Luffy stretching his arms by clutching some debris and backing up quickly, smiling widely. Too widely. “ **Gum Gum…** ”

“Oh, please no,” Zoro suddenly said. Koni’s face went from red to pink as the blood rushed out of it.

“He’s not gonna-” Usopp started to say, but unfortunately, he _was_ gonna.

“ **Rocket!** ” Luffy let himself be flung towards the Merry, and at that the same time his crew, and plowed straight into them. All five pirates were launched, most of them screaming, straight into the back sail of the ship. They landed on the deck as pile of limbs and pirates.

“I’m getting tired of being flung around,” Koni groaned out, dizzy and in her normal form once more. Her statement earned her noises of agreement from all present besides Luffy.

“Everyone!” Nami said, offering her hands to help them up, “Come on! We keep the ship from capsizing!” Once everyone was up, they started scrambling around the ship, manipulating sails and the rudder to make sure they stayed upright. Luckily, it seemed that while the ocean seemed like it was actively fighting them, it was actually pushing them forward. Towards a lighthouse, peaking through the dark storm.

“There it is!” Nami exclaimed, pointing to it, “That light points straight towards the entrance of the Grand Line!”

“The Grand Line is just over there?” Luffy said, almost wistfully.

“What do you say, captain?” the navigator asked.

“We’re going right now? In the middle of this storm?” Usopp questioned from his position clutching the mast. One by one everyone nodded, ready to get started on their real adventure.

“Alright!” Sanji said once everyone was in agreement, “Let’s have a little launching ceremony mark the beginning of our voyage!” he went into the storage room and rolled out an empty barrel.

“Oh, awesome!” Luffy exclaimed, understandably excited.

“Launching ceremony?” Koni asked, earning a handwave from Nami.

“You’ll catch on,” the navigator said.

Sanji placed his foot one the barrel, declaring, “To find the All Blue!”

Luffy was next, “To become the Pirate King!”

Then Zoro, “To be the greatest swordsman!”

Nami placed her heeled sandal up, “To draw a map of the world!”

Koni, catching on, tried her best to put her foot on the barrel and just barely made it, “To tell a thousand stories!”

Usopp hesitated for a moment, “I-I guess,” he placed his boot on the barrel, “To be a brave warrior of the sea!”

They stood together, grinning like fools with their dreams showing proud.

“ **LET’S GO TO THE GRAND LINE!** ” Luffy shouted to the sky.

“AYE!” they responded as one, raising their legs together and bringing them down to smash the barrel to pieces, marking their journey’s start. Now all that was left was to take on the toughest sea in the world.

But nobody said anything fun was easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh I have so much planned for the Grand Line, you have no idea. I'm so excited! Although I might not get a new chapter up next week because between Easter, this past week already kicking my ass, and a job in a grocery store when Stop&Shop is on strike, I'm gonna need a few days just to recover. Either way, I hope you enjoyed!


	16. Reverse Mountain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew are finally on their way to the start of their true adventure. But entrance to the Grand Line is an adventure all its own. Can't catch a break on the Pirate's Graveyard. Even on the starting line.

A mountain. The entrance to the Grand Line was a mountain. Not just any mountain, mind you, _the_ mountain. The Red Line, the massive expanse of rock and land that split the world in half, and at a single part of it, Reverse Mountain, all four of the world’s major oceans converge to make the entrance to the fifth.

And they had to go up it.

“I would like to say, this doesn’t make even the slightest bit of sense,” Koni said above the roar of the storm, pulling at the hood of her dark brown raincoat. She wasn’t sure if she was more nervous about the storm or the prospect of what they were about to do. Nami had just gotten done explaining how a chart she had stolen from Buggy, Koni still wanted to hear the full story for that, detailed the entrance to the Grand Line and that they needed to hit a small channel that apparently went _up_ the mountain in what seemed to be blatant disregard for the laws of physics.

“It’s what the chart says!” Nami protested, scanning what little she could see of the horizon to try and spot the point of entry.

“A chart that we got from an insane pirate dressed like a clown,” Zoro pointed out. Nami opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it again. For a few moments there was no sound but the wind and rain as the pirates processed what that might mean.

“Well we don’t exactly have a choice either way,” Nami finally reasoned, taking the chart out of her coat and spreading it on a barrel, “It’s our only way into the Grand Line, dangerous as it is.” Most of the crew gathered around the map, trying to see what Nami meant.

“Wait, why don’t we just go across here?” Usopp asked, pointing to a stretch of sea on either side of the Grand Line, “The ‘Calm Belt.’ That sounds a lot safer!”

“Sure, if you don’t mind Sea Kings,” Koni snarked. The men of the crew looked at her while Nami just nodded, and Koni explained while wishing she still had a pair of glasses to push up, “The Calm Belt is their breeding ground. Plus, there’s no wind in the Calm Belt, so you can’t even run if you get stuck there.”

“Reverse Mountain it is!” Usopp declared, earning nods from the cook and swordsman. Which was good, because they were rapidly approaching a gigantic wall of red stone. Nami had Usopp go to handle the steering, which was done on the Merry with a little stick called a whip staff with a lamb’s head on the top.

“We need to do this perfectly!” Nami called to everyone, “Too far to either side and the current will destroy the ship!”  
“What?!” Usopp looked panicked. Again.  
“The current is that strong?” Koni asked, starting to grow concerned. She was already nervous about the whole ‘going _up_ the mountain’ thing, but now that it was actually happening…

“It’s strong enough to push us to the summit of a mountain, right?” Nami reasoned, “If we don’t hit the entrance square on, the current will smash the Merry against the Red Line and drag the wreckage to the bottom of the ocean.”

“Well that’s comforting,” Zoro said sarcastically, “If we die at least we’ll all die together.”

“I have faith in our lovely navigator to see us through!” Take a guess who that was.

“…Can I maybe get some help?” Usopp asked weakly. Sanji went up towards the galley, just as the whole ship jolted suddenly, nearly throwing Luffy off his perch. They were in the current.

“There it is!” Nami shouted, pointing towards a specific spot on the mountain. Koni leaned over the side trying to see what she was pointing at. There was a crack going up the mountain that disappeared into the clouds. At the bottom was a series of small gates made of gray stone, probably barely big enough for the ship to just slip through.

“Well good to know the odds,” Koni wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic or trying to be optimistic. Maybe both. Either way, she decided to cling to the side railing as best she could, just in case.

They sped towards the tiny opening, sails raised and stowed so they wouldn’t tear in the wind. Riding the tides Nami called adjustments to the two men steering, making sure they were on target. They were drifting too far to one side, fighting the current as best they could to turn back to the rapidly approaching gates, when the unthinkable happened.

**_CRACK_ **

The whip staff snapped.

“We can’t steer!” Usopp shouted, his panic entirely earned this time. They were nearly where they needed to be, but just off enough to scrape the gate when they passed, which would doom them anyway.

A multitude of emotions sped through Koni: fear, anger, despair, hysteria and finally numb acceptance.

“Well, at least the adventure was fun while it lasted,” she said with a placid smile, her arms not leaving the white banister.

“Guys, Koni’s putting up death flags!” Usopp cried, tears streaming down his face at the young teen’s calm but morbid attitude. No one replied, as the canal gate was upon them. Then, just feet away from a premature end to their adventure, Luffy jumped off the ship.

“ **Gum Gum Balloon!** ” The rubber man inflated himself, falling in between the stone and ship just as they were about to connect. The springiness of his body was enough to push them away from the wall as the current took over once more and forced them to the center of the stream. Luffy barely managed to grab on to the back railing of the ship, pulling himself back onto the ship.

The wave of joyous relief that washed over the crew was palpable, drawing disbelieving laughs and cheers as the current rocketed the Going Merry up Reverse Mountain at high speed. Luffy practically crawled up to the front, sporting a massive grin. They entered the clouds, everything becoming obscured in thick fog. Koni was slightly disappointed that the cloud was just water vapor like she’d been told, not fluffy like she’d hoped.

And then they were above the clouds.

The higher they went the more the world stretched out around them. Eventually they got up far enough to see beyond the storm, witnessing the endless blue of the sea and sky. Koni was left awestruck, it was like she could see the whole world from this mountain. She could see her breath fly backwards from her mouth as they rocketed up into colder temperatures. They reached the summit at that same high speed, flying into the air as the splash of the water turned to ice right before her eyes. She could see canals from the other three oceans meeting the one they came from, connecting the Four Blues into a single stream.

The Merry slammed into that fifth canal as they began their descent, their speed increased by gravity, the combined streams, and sheer enthusiasm if the whoops and shouts were anything to go by. There wasn’t a single face without a smile as they hit the clouds once more, ready to enter the Grand Line proper.

Until they heard a groan in the mist. It was low and loud, cutting through the rushing wind and water with all the grace of gears grinding on an iron ball.

“Uh, what was that?” Usopp asked, his head whipping around as he gazed into the clouds. No answer was forthcoming as they all tried to see what had made the noise. Then they noticed a dark shadow from within the fog ahead of them. “Nami? Is there supposed to be a mountain in front of this one?”

“No! It’s just supposed to be open ocean!” the navigator tried to make sense of what she was seeing as the wall of black bore down on them.

Koni seemed to consider something for a moment, holding her chin with one hand before looking up, “Should I say another farewell line, or should I hold off this time?”

“YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE?!” Usopp screeched at the girl.

Then they finally left the clouds, able to see their obstacle clearly. _Why does a mountain have eyes?_ Koni thought, _and a mouth… and scars… wait._

“IT’S NOT A MOUNTAIN!” someone yelled.

“IT’S A WALL!”

“NO, IT’S A WHALE!”

“AN ISLAND WHALE!” Koni shouted, fear and excitement mixing in her voice. Rino had told her about island whales, gargantuan creatures that dwarfed even the grandest of ships. He had bragged about he had seen a pod of them on the Grand Line, and Koni had always wanted to see one. She just never expected to get the chance so soon. Or at quite this speed. The whale let out another call, drowning out the roar of the wind and current now that they were so close.

“W-w-w-what do we do?!” Usopp asked as everyone’s mind ran a mile a minute.

“Fight it?” Luffy suggested.

“Are you crazy!? We can’t fight something like that!” Nami yelled.

“T-t-t-the current’s taking us right to it!”

“Wait!” Sanji said suddenly, “We’re this close, but we can barely see it’s eye!”

“Maybe it hasn’t notice us!” Nami finished, realizing what he was saying.

“But at this rate we’ll hit it dead on!” Zoro said, looking for a way out, “There’s an opening to the left! Hard to port!”

“The helm’s still broken!” Usopp yelled back.

“We have to do something!” Zoro leapt over the railing of the upper deck and ran toward the kitchen. He, Sanji, and Usopp all started pulling as hard as they could on the stump that was once the whip staff.

“Oh! I just had a great idea!” Luffy exclaimed, jumping off the figurehead and running into the room below the upper deck.

“Luffy?!” Nami yelled, “What are you doing?!”

The men strained to move the rudder, pulling with all their might on the broken log, Koni extracting herself from the railing to try and help, just as the ship was about to plow straight into the blubbery black mass.

**_KABOOM_ **

And an explosion forced the ship to slow down suddenly, throwing everyone forward and Koni down the stairs. Luffy had shot the whale with the ship’s forward cannon.

_SERIOUSLY?!_ The crew thought at once.

“Alright! Did we stop?” the rubber idiot asked from inside the armory. The ship was no longer barreling towards the whale, but it was still moving fast enough that when it hit the creature, it was with enough force to snap the figurehead off and send it spinning onto the lower deck, over Nami’s head and crashing not two feet away from Koni, both of whom were sprawled on the ground. “My special seat!” Luffy cried in anguish.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, trying to process what just happened and waiting for the whale to react. But it didn’t, like being shot by a cannon was no big thing. Which, given its size, it probably wasn’t.

Then Zoro shot to his feet, “LET’S GET MOVING WHILE WE STILL CAN!” He rushed to grab oars, Sanji and Usopp helping to row.

“What’s wrong with it?” Usopp asked as they frantically moved the ship around the whale.

“Didn’t it notice it got shot?!” Sanji said.

“Who cares?! Just GO!” Zoro shouted. They moved around it as fast as they could, but before they could even make it halfway, the whale let loose another call, forcing them to stop rowing as the sound pierced their eardrums. They began to slow down, the call petering out just as they drifted underneath its eye. Nami suddenly got a chill down her spine, like something stupid was about to happen. She turned slowly towards Luffy, fully expecting him to be the cause of this feeling.

But Luffy didn’t react first.

“SORRY FOR SHOOTING YOU MISTER ISLAND WHALE!” Koni shouted at the top of her lungs, cupping her mouth with her hands. Most of the crew’s faces blanched, staring at the girl as she tried to get the enormous sea mammal’s attention, even when it gave no signs that it heard her.

“What are you doing?!” Nami and Usopp questioned, wondering if she was trying to get them killed.

“What? It’d be rude not to apologize!” Koni reasoned, like it was the most natural thing in the world. However, as dumb as that was, Luffy was not to be outdone.

“YOU BROKE MY FAVORITE SEAT!” he shouted and _threw a punch at its eye._ His arm flew forward, stretching out and catching the whale in the lower part of its giant black pupil.

“YOU MORON!”

A few moments passed, the crew frozen in shock, not really sure how to react to this new level of idiocy that they were not aware existed. Then the whale looked at them.

“IT SEES US!” most of them cried.

“How do you like that!” Luffy challenged, standing tall despite the size difference, “I’ll kick your ass you jerk!”

“SHUT UP YOU DUMBASS!” Usopp and Zoro shouted as they kicked him in the face.

“Why would you do that?!” Koni scolded as she bopped the sprawling captain on the head, before turning to the whale once more, “SORRY FOR HIM MISTER WHALE, HE’S AN IDIOT!”

“Stop talking to it!” Nami screamed, desperately trying not to hit the child.

The whale let out a much shorter groan, bringing all conversation to a halt.

“You wanna go?!” Luffy shouted, raising his fist again.

Koni launched herself at his neck, either to hold him back or strangle him, she wasn’t sure, “Stop being a jerk to the whale, you dummy!” she yelled, smacking him on the head. Before anything else could be said, the whale let out it’s loudest groan yet as its mouth started opening, revealing a gullet that could only be described as ‘cavernous.’ The ship began to rock violently as the water began to draw into its mouth.

Rocking that sent Luffy, and his unfortunate passenger, toppling overboard. The crew screamed their names as they fell from the ship, desperately trying to reach out and catch them.

“Crap!” Luffy swung his arm to one of the whale’s teeth, dragging himself towards it as Koni clung to him for dear life. The Merry was sucked down into the whale as Luffy tried to scale the scarred nose of the giant creature, as the wind howled from the shear force of its call and movement.

And then all was quiet, the whale’s mouth closed, and the sea stopped churning, as the captain and log keeper sat panting on top of its head.

“What are we gonna do?” Koni started to panic, “Everybody got eaten!”

“It’s this stupid whale’s fault!” Luffy said, starting to punch the blubber beneath them, “OI! Spit everyone up! Give them back!”

“Luffy, quit it!” Koni yelled, “You might just make it worse!”

“Give them-” Luffy was cut off as the whale suddenly shifted and started sinking.

“CRAPCRAPCRAPCRAP!” Koni yelled, panicking and running in circles as the water steadily got closer. Of course, the only members of the crew that _couldn’t freaking swim_ were stuck on top of the diving whale.

“Stop it! Wait!” Luffy kept stomping before his tone stopped being angry and started being pleading, “Give me back my friends! Stop!” Koni turned toward Luffy as he desperately yelled at the whale, “We’re going on an adventure! They’re important to me! Give em BACK!”

“Luffy…” Koni said quietly as she watched captain beg a whale to give the crew back. Then Luffy stopped, just as the water was almost upon them, and stared at a spot just behind her.

“Do whales have doors?” Koni blinked at the strange question before turning around and seeing, sure enough, a trap door in the skin of the sea creature. The two pirates shared a confused look before deciding that they might as well, so they wrenched open the door and jumped inside, slamming it closed just as the water engulfed the whale.

 

As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the two found themselves in a long metal hallway, something neither expected to find inside of a whale.

“I’m pretty sure whales don’t have hallways and lights,” Luffy said, scratching his head.

“No, they don’t,” Koni said, looking around with uncomprehending eyes. _Why the heck is a whale set up like a factory?_ This thought ran through her head before an explanation popped up in her brain that made her gasp with excitement. Luffy turned toward her, his expression confused. Her eyes sparkled in wonder and joy as she said, “What if it’s a robot whale?”

Luffy’s eyes immediately began sparkling as well, “Really?! That’d be so awesome!” He practically drooled over the idea.

Koni had another idea, “If it _is_ a robot, then maybe the Merry and the crew weren’t eaten after all!”

Luffy caught on quick, “So they’d probably be somewhere inside!” He pounded his fists together, looking off into the dark, “Alright! Let’s go save our crew!”

“Aye!” Koni cheered.

And so, they set off, to find and hopefully rescue their fellow pirates from the belly of what both were convinced was a giant robot shaped like a whale.

And they hadn’t even gotten onto the Grand Line proper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyyyyyyy, I have no words to describe how sorry I am that this took as long as it did. I just lost all wind from my sails for some reason. That and I got a switch and have been nonstop on Breath of the Wild. But I'm back, hopefully with more regular updates again.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave your thoughts or don't. I write fanfiction, I'm not a cop.


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